Emotional triumph for David Toms

Emotional triumph for David Toms

There were times when David Toms wondered if he would ever win on the PGA Tour again.In 2009, he saw Kenny Perry shoot a final-round 63 to win the Travelers Championship in Hartford. Last year at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., he saw Arjun Atwal get up and down for par to win by a stroke.Just last week, a missed short par putt on the first playoff hole on the famed 17th island green at TPC Sawgrass kept Toms from winning the Players Fila Korea Buys Titleist For Global Expansion Championship.Age -- he is 44 -- and injuries -- hand, shoulder and heart surgeries -- seemed to lead to self-doubt, despite a résumé that includes a PGA Championship, 11 other Tour victories and spots on three Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Toms said Sunday. "This is actually happening, right?"Yes, it was. The golf gods were not that cruel.Too much of Toms' one-shot victory at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial seemed predestined.In December, his grandfather, Tom, died. He fought in World War II and was awarded a Silver Star. He helped raise Toms. He bought him his first car. He was the one who got him hooked on golf, taking him to tournaments when Toms was younger.On Saturday, Colonial celebrated Armed Forces Day by welcoming former Medal of Honor winners to the tournament, and military members held the flag on No. 17 all TaylorMade R9 Fairway Wood adopt Latest technology day.As Toms spoke Sunday of his grandfather, his voice caught."He didn't get to see my last victory," Toms said. "That's a little of that emotion."Toms thought his grandfather was carrying him last week. Six months earlier, Toms was in Jacksonville on a business trip when he got the call that his grandfather needed emergency surgery. He thought it was fitting that he would win again near where he got the call telling him of his grandfather's death.Perhaps Tom Toms knew better.Colonial Country Club has long been David Toms' favorite course on the PGA Tour. His precise game always seemed to be suited for the tighter fairways, but all he could manage were three top-five finishes in his first 12 trips to Fort Worth. He finished tied for second in 2002, five strokes behind Nick Price."To finally get it done means the world to me," said Toms, who heard and saw plenty of LSU fans throughout the week.After the first two rounds, Toms was threatening to run away from the field with a pair of bogey-free 62s. But on Saturday he shot a 74 and entered the final round trailing Charlie Wi by a stroke.

Women’s Golf Championship performance

Women’s Golf Championship performance

UCLA shot a 7-over 295 on Thursday for an 8-over 584 total. Purdue, tied for third with LSU after the first round, matched UCLA at 7 over in the second round to move into second place.“You can’t feel bad about the position we’re in,” Purdue coach Devon Brouse said. “I really felt like both days we left some out there the last couple of holes, but I’m sure every coach here could say that.”Brouse said the wind was a factor Thursday.“I didn’t blow quite as hard as I thought it was going to (but) it was tricky,” he said. “It was swirling and I think it fooled all the players quite a few times today. I know it fooled our players a few times.”UCLA’s Tiffany Lua was in a three-way tie for third after her second straight 1-under 71.LSU was third at 12-over 588 and host TaylorMade Burner 2.0 irons Can Creat A Special Swing Texas A&M jumped from sixth after the first day to fourth at 13-over 589. The Aggies were leading at a couple of points during their back nine, but struggled on the 15th and 16th holes to fall into fourth.“No, (I’m) not completely satisfied, but I said to myself at the beginning of the day that if we went out and shot what we did yesterday, today that I would be satisfied with it,” A&M coach Trelle McCombs said about her team which improved by one stroke in the second round. “But knowing that we gave some shots away on 15 and 16, that obviously left a little mark. The thing about it is that we kept ourselves in it, we didn’t take ourselves out of it.”“I’ve hit the ball really well this spring and it’s just been a matter of getting some putts to drop,” Ernst said. “Once I make one, I feel confident I can make a few. I just played solid golf and hit all my spots.”Ernst, who shot an even-par 72 in the first round, had seven birdies Thursday.“I was hitting OK (Wednesday) and (Thursday) I tried to stay more on top of the ball and I hit it a lot better,” Ernst said. “I missed one shot all day and that was the drive on 3 (bogey). I played smart most of the day and went for pins that I could get to.”Top-ranked Southern California and No. 3 Alabama struggled again, tying for 15th with 28-over 604 totals.