What I'll Remember about '11: 'Good guy' finishes first

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PGATOUR.COM asked its staffers and freelancers what they will remember about the 2011 season. For the archived list of essays, click here.

He really wasn't sure. Not until he saw one crystal trophy and that silver Tiffany model on the podium and realized he was the only player there.

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So Bill Haas looked over at his wife, Julie, and saw her smiling like the proverbial Cheshire cat. That's when he knew that his win at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola also gave him the FedExCup.

His uncertainty was understandable. After all, Haas had started the week ranked 25th in the FedExCup standings. Only the top five controlled their own fate and while mathematically all 30 players competing at East Lake had a chance to win the $10 million bonus, a lot of dominoes had to fall for it to happen.

Besides, Haas was too busy trying to make the TOUR Championship his third PGA TOUR win to watch the projected standings. He had seen a three-stroke advantage evaporate as he bogeyed two of his final three holes, then headed to the range to see if there would be a playoff.

When Hunter Mahan got up and down from behind the green in regulation at the 18th hole, an unusual and daunting par-3 finish, he and Haas headed for sudden death. History will show the playoff ended on the third extra hole when Mahan couldn't save par from the right greenside bunker the third time the two played the 18th. But the playoff protagonists wouldn't have even been there if Haas hadn't come up with most people regard as the shot of the year on the previous hole.

With Bubba Watson and Aaron Baddeley watching from a TV set across the lake, Haas' approach at the 17th had landed in the shallow water. Mahan was safely on the putting surface, staring at a 15-foot birdie putt. When Haas got to the water's edge, though, he realized his ball was only partially submerged and actually was playable. It was a longshot, of course, literally as well as figuratively but what other chance did he have? So Haas stood in the water and took aim -- then watched anxiously as the ball settled 3 feet from the pin.

Mahan just missed his birdie putt and Haas converted the clutch par. One hole later, Haas was $11.44 million richer, and it's hard to imagine a more popular win. Like his father Jay, Bill is one of the good guys on the PGA TOUR. Jay and his wife Jan were in the crowd that momentous Sunday, too, beaming with pride. And there was an added bonus, as a day later the younger Haas found out he would join his father, an assistant captain, at The Presidents Cup.