For someone who led from the start, Jeff Klauk wasn’t safe even after finishing.
Klauk won the Melwood Prince George’s County Open at The Country Club at Woodmore Sunday afternoon with a final hole birdie after squandering a two-shot lead over the previous two holes. Even after finishing 12-under, Klauk needed David Mathis in the final group to hit the water to finish one back.
Klauk earned the trophy with one intense moment. A 12-foot putt that was anything but easy. He flashed to the 2003 Wichita Open, his last victory when a similar putt was needed. Klauk looked at his index card of his coach’s advice — “I feel quiet-quiet.”
Empty the mind, feel the putt. Be the putt. Hey, whatever works.
“I had it a 1,000 times in my life. Right to left. Just visualize it going in. I remember I made a putt like that in Wichita on the 18th green. I visualized that,” Klauk said. “‘I feel quiet-quiet’ — kept saying that, kept breathing. Just get your body to relax, get to that state to perform your best.
“I was nervous. I’ve been working with my coach on keeping my mind quiet. Everybody knows out here you have to really trust yourself. I’ve been really, really doing that. More than any swing change, believing in myself. I’ve been doing it this year.”
The putt was perfect. It might have rolled a few more inches if needed. That moment is why Klauk and his brethren continue on the smaller tour. The hope of perfect moments like his first-round 64 in 30 mph winds on Thursday that one club official called the greatest round his fellow Woodmore members remembered on their course despite no longer being the house record. The hope of making the clinching putt on the tournament’s final hole.
Klauk, 30, is finally emerging after six years on the small tour. There have been 18 top 25 finishes in 17 months and six top 10 outings. The $117,000 winner’s share vaults him to second in earnings on the circuit and nearly guarantees his PGA Tour card next year as one of the Nationwide’s top 25 finishers.
Not bad for a husband who needed to win his final college tournament to finish with more career victories than his wife. For the son of the TPC Sawgrass superintendent who knew competition at an early age when his older brother reached the Nationwide Tour first. For a stress-out pro who kept playing in 2005 despite two seizures that limited his driving to a golf course instead of highways.
When you can feel the ball, be the ball, every lousy day is forgotten. Even when the pointed winner’s trophy draws blood from your chin, it’s just a red badge of courage after never surrendering the dream.
The PGA soon beckons. Woodmore will be forgotten until the next time Klauk must remember his happy place.
It was the 18th green yesterday.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
