Jonathan Byrd plays a hole-in-one at Las Vegas
“I was in a kind of astounded state of mind and was rather confused when it happened,” Jonathan Byrd
The J.T. event held at the TPC Summerlin ended with its playoff with a dazed Jonathan Byrd. The Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Hospital for Children Open went through its last round on Sunday and witnessed Jonathan Byrd attaining
victory after a remarkable hole in one.
According to the thirty two year old, his win left him confused and rather dazed about taking home another red eye. Byrd said that reuniting with his family and the win is something which he is still trying to take in. He said
that the whole aura is quite emotional and the best thing about this trip is that he has been able to learn a lot.
Byrd recently went through a really bad golf stretch which had a complicated effect on him. At the money list, the thirty two year old stood on the 130th position when he entered the Vegas event. When he was asked about the earlier
part of his season, Byrd replied by saying that it’s just the kind of play it is. He said that he kept his learning abilities intact and played well in the fall event which later led him to win this event.
Byrd played his last hole at the Vegas event when darkness was enclosing them leisurely. According to Byrd, everyone hesitated when they were asked about whether they wanted to play further or not with darkness slowly enveloping
the course. He said that the game only continued because he wanted to play for his fans and knew that they could easily get one more hole done. The option thus given by the PGA officials was postponed till the 17th hole where they planned on deciding whether
it was too dark to putt or not.
Byrd’s hole in one was thus played in the same darkness where the 17th hole had literally no one on the ground. The fans were all stationed at the 18th green and were seen yelling from the 18th hill that the ball had gone in. Byrd
says that although the crowd was cheering and yelling they weren’t loud enough. Byrd played his shot and his ball landed 10 feet short of the flag and vanished into the cup.
Byrd spent a full minute trying to understand what happened and when it finally dawned on him, he ‘did not’ jump around with happiness. Since he had nothing but praise for his competitors, Martin Laird and Cameron Percy, his foremost
reaction was that the rest still have to play. Byrd says that to jump around here and there would only have been a disrespectful act towards his fellow competitors and he wanted his opponents to finish with good shots.
With Byrd attaining a hole in one, Laird and Percy were left with no other choice but to hit their shots and give way to the leader to head off and collect his first win of the year. He said that after he played his hole in one,
everyone came over and congratulated him which was plain great. Martin Laird said that Byrd’s hole in one was very cool and the putt was due to go in any way.
The remarkable shot thus played by the thirty two year old handed Byrd a win to boast about and his fans, the memories of his earlier wins. Byrd was not in the top 125 before his win at the tournament but holds the record of having
past wins. The victory handed Byrd full status and he is thus highly pleased since he considers it far better than the limited status.
Regarding his future plans for the coming events, Byrd said that he is very tired from the long season, and has not played well since last week therefore he is all ready to pack it in until 2011.
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