Second Time Around

Another year, another AT&T Classic playoff appearance for Ryuji Imada -- this time he gets it right and picks off his first tour victory

Imada's victory got him into the 2009 Masters, but unless the Atlanta stop finds a title sponsor, he may not get to defend his crown.

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By Jim Moriarty

Photos By Charles Laberge

May 23, 2008

Call the 18th hole at TPC Sugarloaf what you will, just don't call it boring. For the second consecutive year, Ryuji Imada returned to the plunging downhill rollercoaster par 5 for a playoff in the AT&T Classic but this time the Japanese Georgia Bulldog found redemption instead of water, beating Kenny Perry in melodramatic sudden death.

With visions of the Ryder Cup dancing in his head, Perry, who is already 47 and has probably aged another decade or two in the last couple of weeks, seemed to be in firm control of the golf tournament when he made three clutch birdies on the back nine, at the drivable par-4 13th, the 15th and the 16th to reach 15 under par and stave off the Colombian Biceps, Camilo Villegas, who came charging down the hill at the 18th, chasing after his second shot from 225 yards, watching it stop inside 16 feet but could only reach 14 under at the end of his thrill ride when he was unable to convert the eagle. Imada put himself in the mix early on the back nine with birdies on the 10th, 11th and 13th but needed 4 at the last to tie Perry, still out on the course.

Even with a birdie, Imada's chances seemed dim. The 18th is a dogleg right with a downhill tee shot then a tremendous fall off from the landing area to a green guarded by a lake in front. Even with a stout wind in the players' faces, it is eminently reachable and Perry is still recognized as one of the longest, most accurate drivers on tour. Last year, in his playoff against Zach Johnson, Imada drove it through the fairway and tried a risky 3-wood shot out of the rough from 262 yards that came to a watery end. This year, Imada also was through the fairway, though the rough was virtually non-existent thanks to Georgia's drought, and he was 20 yards closer to the green, though into the wind. The University of Georgia grad hit the same 3-wood, hanging it out to the right away from the water this time, then nearly holed the pitch and walked away with an easy 4 to post 15 under, the same number, 273, he and Johnson tied with in '07.

Perry, of course, could still win with a birdie but his 3-wood tee shot only traveled 268 -- the same club would go 295 in the playoff -- and he had no choice but to lay up. From there he wedged it to 30 feet, misread the putt and ended up back on the tee in sudden death. Imada drove right into the rough, and Perry was perfectly positioned in the fairway.

Because of the dogleg, Imada was closer to the hole, however, and Perry played first. This time, he went for it. In one of the cruelest caroms since Charles Howell III hit the bottom of the pin on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines in '05 and ricocheted back into the water, Perry's 5-wood headed for the bailout area right of the green, flew too far and struck a pine tree 10 feet above the heads of a clump of spectators. The ball shot all the way across the putting surface and rolled into the hazard on the left side of the green. Back up in the fairway Perry began frantically asking where his ball had gone. When he found out, the news was even harder to take than the 81 he finished with in the final twosome at the Players the week before.

Back in '05, Howell, who ironically was playing with Perry in Atlanta, said, "Obviously, it's a crazy game." Perry was disinclined to react so philosophically. The only player to break 70 all four days, he was doubly cursed, though it's fair to say had his ball missed the lone pine tree, there is no telling where it might have finished. On the other hand, had the ball entered the hazard somewhere to the right of the pin instead of on the left, Perry would have been able to take a drop much closer (keeping the point between himself and the hole) and offering a far easier par-saving up and down than the one he faced from the drop area. While the Kentucky native is determined to bury the ghosts of his Valhalla PGA Championship playoff loss to Mark Brooks (and the momentum-cooling TV-tower sojourn he's never allowed to forget) by claiming a spot on Paul Azinger's Ryder Cup side in September, he seems hellbent on conjuring up more in the process. Still, he nearly holed his fourth shot but missed the subsequent 11-footer for par while Imada, who had the luxury of playing the 18th conservatively for once, two-putted for his first tour victory.