Handling a "Couples Only" crowd

South Africa's Rory Sabbatini,29, blew a four-shot lead, then quickly emerged from a four-way tie Sunday with a flag molesting tee shot, to 5 feet for birdie on the pivotal par-3 16th to escape with a one-shot victory in the Nissan Open. He managed to hang on, firing a one over 72, capturing his third PGA Tour victory. The 72 was the highest final round by a winner at Riviera since 1977.

Rory kept from losing his mind as several putts lipped out or missed all on the left side, Pacific Ocean side, of the hole. Rory played the villain in the black hat. Fred Couples 46 donned the white cap, as the crowd favorite playing in his 25th L.A. Open. It is rare on Tour to see such disparity in crowd support. It was one of those fun days when everyone knows who they want to win. The only problem is they still have to play the round before handing out the hardware.

Both Couples and Sabbatini bogeyed the 15th hole as Craig Barlow, also in their group, though no one noticed, birdied to leave a four-way tie with club house leader Adam Scott who shot a sizzling 64. Turns out it was Couples feeling all the pressure down the stretch. Sabbatini just had to keep from puking on his shoes. He did not have the pressure of letting the fans down. Outside of his wife (Amy), son (Harley), and caddie (Kevin) he didn’t have many others cheering for him. Couples’ seemed to stumble with the weight of the gallery on his shoulders.

Was it just me, or did Fred Couples take FOREVER to play his shots? He seemed to take “a time out on the floor” before each shot. ABC would get a shot of Rory looking like he was ready to blow a freeze plug, but Rory's clutch birdie at 16 put him back in the lead for good.

Sabbatini got ripped for his handling of his group’s slow pace of play at last year's Booz Allen. He and Ben Crane were paired together for the first two rounds and the final round at Congressional Country Club. They were put on the clock, Crane is very slow, and Rory just lost his mind. Sabbatini walked up behind the #17 green, while Crane was still 150 yards out in the fairway. Rory chipped up, putted out of turn, and angrily walked on to the 18th Tee box. Paul Azinger was furious and Sabbatini had created the worst P.R. move this side of Paul Casey’s post Ryder Cup dumb American comments. You can read more from Golf Digest on the Sabbatini/Crane fiasco, written eight months after the incident.

Rory might not have been the favored player today, but you have to give him some serious props. While Paul Casey hides out in Europe, Sabbatini faced his nasty behavior head on and became a better player through the adversity. He realized things needed to change, if he was to be successful on tour. He now keeps his own yardage book to slow himself down and occupy his mind. I think he will have to deal with the “slow play” gamesmanship the rest of his career. He handled Freddy’s stall tactics today. Now there were times when he looked like he could put his head through a refrigerator, but he had a four shot cushion that allowed him to squander three strokes and still came away with the “W”.

Just one other thing about Rory: The picture above in the camo pants... Rory donates money to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which has distributed over $14 million in aid to families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The gallery could have given him some charity support, with all the support Rory gives to charity.

Phil Mickelson deserves his “fan favorite” status as much as Rory deserves his label as a villain. A friend of mine, Rob Mahle, went to the Memorial last year, and Rory gave him a tour of his RV. That doesn’t sound like what Phil will do next.