Trevino Lights Up
Michigan's Par 3 Shootout
By Kiel Christianson,
Senior Writer
GAYLORD, MI (July 31, 2001) - Day two of the ESPN Par 3 Shootout
on the par-3 Threetops course at Treetops Resort promised as much
excitement as day one. Although it would be hard to top the highlight
of the first day: Lee Trevino's $1,000,000 hole-in-one at the
7th.
In fact, Treetops' Director of Golf, tournament host, and one of America's top instructors, Rick Smith, did a bit of research last night and discovered exactly how significant Trevino's ace really was: One swing of Lee Trevino's club grossed not only the one million bucks, but also $10,000 for closest to the pin on that hole, making the total $1,010,000. As such, that one shot was the most valuable in the history of golf.
So how to top that? Well, let me just say that the folks here at Treetops couldn't have scripted it any better….
Before giving away the end, though, a few things should be pointed out. First, since no one earned any skins after Trevino's ace on day one, there was already $40,000 on the first hole today. Second, no one got a skin until the 18th, making the last hole of the event worth $230,000 (including closest to the green money).
Now, the fact that no player had any skins until the end of the
day doesn't mean there wasn't any action. Unlike the Battle at
Bigyawn, er, Bighorn, which aired Monday night to a rousing chorus
of snores from viewers around the world, the Shootout had some
great shots and outstanding action and fun.
The fun emanated in great waves from Trevino, as usual. His quote of the day in reference to the aforementioned painful co-ed knock-around the night before. "Why would anyone want to mike Woods, Sorenstam, Duval and Webb?" Trevino asked Rick Smith (and everyone else on the range). "You put all four of those people at the same table at a dinner party, and you'd be lucky to get five words out of them combined!" Regarding Tiger's imprudent self-expression during the match: "The only time I heard any of them speak all night was when Tiger cursed. At least that was exciting!"
The action was a direct result of one aspect of the format, unique
to the Shootout, which they call skin "validation".
This means that anyone winning a skin on a hole has to at least
tie for low score on the following hole. As Phil Mickelson put
it: "I love the validation. It's the only event in the nation
that uses it, and it ensures that no skin will be won on a fluke."
Even after his ace yesterday, Trevino had to validate the additional
$20,000 skin on the next hole (which he did).
This validation system had players winning skins several times today, only to fail to validate them on the subsequent hole. And the money rolled over, and over, and over.
The most dramatic failure to validate came on the 8th. Phil Mickelson,
after a birdie on the 7th, air-mailed the green on the 150-yard
8th and LOST HIS BALL. That's right, this yank rated about a 7
on the Goosen scale.
You can now just imagine the heartwarming finish: With $220,000 on the line, and no validation pending after the final hole, Mickelson hit it stiff. Ray Floyd had a long putt, which ended up missing by two inches. Trevino and Azinger both chipped, missing the cup by no more than three inches each. And then possibly the nicest guy on the Tour ran in an absolutely perfect putt for nearly a quarter million dollars - and redemption.
And when Lassie pulled little Timmy from the well, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Like I said, they couldn't have scripted it any better.
Final Results: Lee Trevino: $1,120,000
Phil Mickelson: $330,000
Paul Azinger: $60,000
Raymond Floyd: $30,000
The Par 3 Shootout will be broadcast on ESPN on Tuesday, July 31 (first nine, 8-10 p.m.) and Wednesday, August 1 (second nine, 10 p.m.-12 a.m.).
Day 1 Coverage: Trevino Comes Up Aces
GAYLORD, MI (July 30, 2001) - Treetops Resort is not only one of the best golf resorts in the nation, it is also home to arguably the most exciting skins game in the world, the Par 3 Shootout. Why so exciting? For starters, the game is played on Threetops, the resort's nine-hole par 3 course, which has been called the best par three in the United States by Golf Week. More exciting yet, each and every hole-in-one is worth one million dollars.
Today, on day one of the 2001 Shootout, Lee Trevino holed the first ace in the game's three-year history. One shot, one million dollars. It doesn't get any more exciting than that, folks.
As you can imagine, Trevino was his usual quiet, reserved self
after the ball dropped in the cup of the 138-yard 7th….Not!
Ten minutes of hugs and high-fives ensued, accompanied by the
crowd's prolonged roar. In just his first year at the event, Trevino
has become the instant crowd favorite. Or maybe everyone just
wants him to buy drinks tonight.
Trevino's playing partners for the coolest skins game on the planet are last year's winner, Raymond Floyd, and two other crowd favorites, Phil Mickelson and Paul Azinger. Mickelson, whose short game skills "should be illegal" according to Azinger, is always an odds-on favorite at this course. But after a hot start, winning $70,000 with the first $10,000 closest to the pin on hole No. 1 and $60,000 on the first skin of the day on the 3rd.
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Trevino's ace was the first in competition at this event, but not the first by one of the invited players. Phil Mickelson had a hole-in-one yesterday in a practice round on the Rick Smith Signature Course. Mickelson's coach and friend Rick Smith, who Golf Digest named as the fifth-best instructor in America, was his playing partner at the time, and told me how he was yelling for the ball NOT to go in. "I didn't want him to use it up before the Shootout," Smith explains.
Mickelson also lipped his tee shot out at the 4th during the pro-am event this morning. The 4th was the hole where he almost earned $1,000,000 in last year's Shootout. Last year, that ball ended up just 15 inches from the hole.
Aside from Trevino's ace, the other noteworthy event of the day
came on the 205-yard 3rd, aptly named Devil's Drop, with it's
145-foot vertical drop. Not one of the four pros hit the green:
Azinger and Floyd were long in the back bunker, Trevino was way
right, and Mickelson was short. The short shot proved the best,
as Mickelson earned his last money of the day here. Azinger hit
out of the trap across the green, and then skulled his par chip
off the back of the putting surface, prompting Trevino to quip,
"Just one more and you'll be on the green."
Cheaters may never prosper, but wise guys apparently do.
At the end of the first day of action, the money stands as follows:
Lee Trevino: $1,110,000
($500,000 goes to Trevino's chosen charity, St. Jude's Childrens
Hospital)
Phil Mickelson: $70,000
Paul Azinger: $30,000
Raymond Floyd: $20,000
