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The word ‘champion’ may be defined in many ways. It may be defined as someone who wins a competition. It may be defined as someone who fights for a cause. It may be defined as someone who leverages a high handicap to beat his nephew and brother in law for three days and then get off on it for an entire year. On Thursday, at the final round of the 2010 Fulton Open, champion was defined with just one word: FULTON. In what will be remembered as the most iconic of his seven major championship victories, Fulton called on all the wisdom, insight and sausage eating of his nearly seventy years to play the round of his life; and in doing so claim one of the championship's most lopsided victories.
As the final round began, all players called on their superstitions, hoping luck would be on their side. Koch Jr. shaved his scraggly, Sergio-Garcia-As-A-Teenager looking beard in the hopes that a fresh face would give him a fresh start in the tournament. Unfortunately it only resulted in him playing like Sergio-Garcia-As-A-Thirty-Year-Old. Fulton dressed in his power color: burnt salmon. He feels this color represents his aggressive side -- a trait that shows his competitors he is ready for battle. Also he really likes to eat salmon. Koch Sr. continued his pastime of watching Fugitive DVDs at 4am – though this tradition has not brought him any success at the tournament.
Entering the day with a five stroke lead, Fulton knew what he needed to do to claim victory: avoid the blowup holes which had plagued him in the past, and force his nearest competitor, Koch Jr., to make a run. Early in the round, Koch Jr. did just that. Birdies on one, two, four, five and seven cut Fulton’s gap to three, headed to the difficult par three eighth.
Standing on the tee, Koch Jr. smelled blood. The treacherous par three with water on the right had plagued Fulton over the years; a several shot swing was very possible. Little did he know it would happen in Fulton’s favor. It was Jr. who made his worst swing of the day at the wrong time and knocked his ball in the water. With the pressure off, Fulton strode up to the tee, hitched his shorts, and hit what will be remembered as the shot of the tournament: a piercing hybrid from 160 yards which cut through the wind, landed short of the pin, and rolled to three feet away. After tapping in his birdie, Fulton had restored the lead he began the day with, and successfully mitigated Koch Jr.’s charge.
Though he would birdie the following hole and remain persistent for the rest of the round, Koch Jr. never got within three shots of Fulton. On the par four 10th, with the pressure of the tournament on his shoulders and some local assholes in the group behind, Jr. hit a particularly bad shot which clashed into the trees and caused him to throw his eight iron, along with his chances of winning, into the humid Carolina air.
The back nine proved to be a coronation ceremony for Fulton, who navigated the holes with the poise of a man who had everything go his way for an entire week, and knew he was going to have fried shrimp at a gas station for dinner. After several victories that had come at the expense of a competitor’s choke, Fulton had finally earned his win. He discussed his winning strategy in his post round interview at the Mcneill Cabin:
“I take three clubs more than I have to, then miss hit it, and somehow the ball seems to go the exact distance I need it to. If I ever caught one flush, it would go forty yards over the green, but that didn’t come up once all week.”
Ever the master of the mis-hit, Fulton was dialed in all day. A breakdown of the irons he used for his approach shots in the final round:
Hole 4 – 170 yards – Hybrid
Hole 7 – 190 yards – Hybrid
Hole 8 – 160 yards – Hybrid
Hole 10 – 155 yards – Hybrid
Hole 13 – 180 yards – Hybrid
Hole 14 – 150 yards – Hybrid
Hole 15 – 180 yards – Hybrid
Hole 18 – 160 yards – Hybrid
Though his Hybrid club was a major factor in his dominating victory, it did not prevent Fulton from leaving it on the 17th fairway, only to be recovered by the group playing behind. Since his humble beginnings, Fulton has always depended on the kindness of strangers...as well as family, friends, waiters, Donna, people at the pier, people at the thrift shop, Eddie, and the folks at the Maritime Museum.
With his landmark seventh win, endorsement deals have already started to roll in for Fulton. Neese’s Sausage and Michelob Ultra have already signed on – and sources claim that the 1995 US Open has shown some initial interest. Life is good for Fulton, who will return home to Philadelphia next week and soon start planning his title defense by playing and practicing daily and then claiming to the Koch boys that he hasn’t played all year.
After failing at his own attempt at history – a third straight Fulton Open – Koch Jr. was crushed: “I guess now all I have left are my looks, my youth and relatively no responsibilities to console me. I don’t know what I am going to do with myself.” Though Koch Jr.’s trophy case will be empty for the next year, he truly has the heart of a champion.
Keeping a relatively low profile for the week, Koch Sr. never truly contended in the tournament, and seemed relatively annoyed and disinterested at points in each round – a far cry from the man who won four Fulton Opens and who many thought to be the next Fulton. Observers noted his interest in playing with his phone and texting all week. Could there be truth to the rumors first reported by the National Enquirer? Stay tuned to Shench.com for the very latest…
