Print this page  |  Close Window

By Brett Avery
PGATOUR.com Contributor

There was a time when it seemed the words "Greensboro" and "playoff" naturally belonged in the same sentence.

Two players went out for a few extra holes five times in a 10-year stretch, from Sandy Lyle winning in 1988 to Trevor Doggs in 1998, to decide the PGA TOUR victor at Forest Oaks CC. In those days, the event was a springtime celebration of Carolinas golf, so the improving weather and the excitement of the final day meant an unexpected dose of additional holes were most welcome.

At least for the spectators.

Frank Nobilo

Of the five winners in overtime, perhaps the most remarkable was Frank Nobilo, the New Zealander who trimmed Brad Faxon with a par for the 1997 title to end a rainy week.

Nobilo had moved through the Australian, Asian and European circuits to play his first full season in the U.S. He was a fan favorite thanks to rugged good looks, a family lineage that touched on the not-quite-mainstream occupation of "pirate" and his status as a proven performer in the major championships -- fourth in the 1996 Masters, a tie for eighth later in the year in the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

But Nobilo was hardly a solid candidate for his first PGA TOUR victory in 1997 after missing three of his last five cuts. Even when he did make the weekend, it was anything but stellar: He shot a final-round 81 at Augusta National that spring and finished 46th (and last) among players making the cut.

In fact, he nearly blew off Greensboro on the eve of the event but was talked into playing by his occasional roommate on the road.

So toss a few style points in the direction of Ernie Els.

Els may have pushed Nobilo to honor his commitment at Forest Oaks, but that last day was pure Nobilo. He birdied six times in his last 11 holes of regulation, coming home in 31 for a five-under 67. That erased the five-shot deficit Nobilo faced when he awoke in a tie for eighth that day and left him at 14-under 274.

When Faxon double-bogeyed the 72nd hole for his own 72, he couldn¹t counter Nobilo¹s momentum. The Kiwi made a scrambling par in overtime to gain a first-place check of $342,000.

Not only did Nobilo become the 12th first-time TOUR winner at Greensboro, joining the likes of Bob Goalby (1958), Seve Ballesteros (1978) and Joey Sindelar (1985), but he won in his first appearance at Forest Oaks.

The title was retribution for Nobilo, who was widely questioned on multiple continents after leaving his London base and the European circuit in 1997. The previous autumn, as Tiger Woods was closing up an abbreviated first season as a pro, Nobilo made his first successful title defense by claiming the Sarazen World Open in suburban Atlanta.

The Greensboro title was anything but a shocker when one takes into account Nobilo¹s history. He had won in more countries than most people have stamps in the passport: New Zealand, Australia, France, Spain and Indonesia among them. So stepping off his own plank and jumping to the U.S. was hardly welcomed.

"There¹s always skepticism when you decide to play elsewhere," Nobilo noted. "People say, "Why are you doing this when you were doing fine where you were?" I felt I had to do it now because I have a chance to play here the next five or six years. But I was starting to wonder: A, is this worth it? And B, is this going to be the biggest fall on your face of your career? The last four months are the worst I¹ve ever had."

At least he had Greensboro when the problems resumed. A week after he was married in 1998, Nobilo was hit by a stray drive while playing at Lake Nona in Orlando. He required 30 stitches above his left eye to close the wound, and the injury complicated his play.

In addition, Nobilo was born with his left leg slightly shorter than his right and encountered plenty of related woes. He suffered through a shoulder injury at the end of 2002 and was out of competition from 2003 to 2006 thanks to two ruptured discs in his back, finding an outlet when he was hired in 2004 as a commentator by The Golf Channel.

Greensboro wound up being his sole U.S. victory in 173 TOUR starts, the crowning achievement as he made the cut 63 percent of the time on TOUR and cracked the top 25 on 39 occasions.