Act of destiny? Toms wins Colonial after heartbreaker

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FORT WORTH, Texas -- Five months ago, David Toms was playing in a golf outing at TPC Sawgrass when he got the phone call. His grandfather, Tom -- yes, Tom Toms -- had been rushed to the emergency room. A few days later, he passed away. David was crushed.

It was his grandfather who taught David to play golf, reading instruction books from Bob Toski and Jack Nicklaus. It was his grandfather who took David to the course at the nearby military base, shagging balls, encouraging the talent that existed within the youngster. But Tom Toms was much more than that.

"He was a great man," David said. "A military man. He loved to hunt and fish."

So when David found himself leading THE PLAYERS Championship last week, on the verge of winning for the first time in five years, he felt it was destiny. TPC Sawgrass was now going to be the place for good news, not bad. He was sure of it, could feel the spirit of his grandfather guiding him along. "I thought he was in control last week," David said.

But destiny, just like golf itself, is not predictable. Destiny was not Toms' ally at TPC Sawgrass. His missed 3-1/2 foot putt in the first playoff hole allowed K.J. Choi to win THE PLAYERS ... and left Toms wondering if his destiny had deserted him forever, if he would ever win another TOUR event.

The answer came Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Destiny was not through with David Toms.

It just wanted him to wait one more excruciating week.

On a hot, humid Sunday that his grandfather surely would appreciate, Toms got the tap on the shoulder from the golf gods. On a course that he absolutely adores and in a tournament he's always wanted to win, Toms shot a 3-under 67 and climbed back into the winner's circle -- physically exhausted, mentally spent and emotionally drained. And enjoying every minute of it.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?," he said while proudly wearing the plaid Colonial jacket that he's pursued for so long. "This is actually happening, right?"

Please excuse his disbelief. So many strange twists of fate had happened to him in the past seven days that to get to this moment, victory in hand, felt like an out-of-body experience. The highs and lows -- and highs and lows and one last high -- that Toms endured the last two weeks would've crushed players of less steely resolve.

Consider this week. Destiny gave Toms the hot hand in the first two rounds, his unprecedented pair of 62s in this event producing a seemingly insurmountable seven-shot lead. But Toms found out Saturday that no journey with this kind of payoff goes without its challenges. A 4-over 74 left Toms trailing by one stroke to Charlie Wi, but it didn't leave him devastated.

Even after Wi pumped up his lead to three shots just two holes into the final round of what would turn out to be a two-man chase, Toms never rattled. He stayed within himself, kept relying on his accuracy -- he would hit 13 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens on Sunday -- and kept waiting for the moment.

As he stood over this third shot at the par-5 11th hole, Toms felt confident. A nice, solid lob wedge, a little bit downwind, right to left, 85 yards from the pin. He struck the shot, the ball hit four inches short of the hole, hopped past it ... then spun back into the pin for eagle.

"One of the most perfect shots I've ever hit, to be honest," Toms said.

Was destiny playing favorites?

"I'm not going to lie to you," Wi said. "I was kind of disappointed that the ball went in."

Even after Wi birdied the hole with a nice up-and-down from the greenside bunker, Toms held his first lead of the day, up by a stroke going to the 12th.

Then it was Wi's turn to feel the fickle hand of fate go against him. Finding the fairway bunker with his tee shot, Wi ignored the advice of his caddie, who wanted him to simply chip out. "Are you kidding me?" Wi replied. "I'm trying to win the tournament here."

So he took an 8-iron but thinned it. His shot hit just below the lip of the bunker and rolled back into the sand to his left. When Wi finished off his bogey, Toms was two shots ahead.

Meanwhile, the only other player who had the best catch the top two, Stuart Appleby, was enduring his own misfortune. He was 12 under through 11 holes and just one shot behind Toms at the time. But then he went bogey-bogey-triple bogey, the latter coming when his second shot out of the rough went just 17 yards and he three-putted from 22 feet.

Appleby would ultimately shoot 43 on the back nine, turning a possible top-three finish into a tie for 16th. Had destiny taken things a little too far?

Perhaps, so a rebalancing was needed. Toms led by three shots going into the final three holes, but a Wi birdie at 16 and a Toms bogey at 17 kept the Louisiana native honest, just like it had down the stretch last week at TPC Sawgrass.

Despite his nervousness, though, Toms hit his best tee shot of the week, then struck a wedge to 22 feet for an easy two-putt. Easy, that is, unless you remember that he three-putted from 18 feet on last week's playoff hole. But this time, there was no look of disbelief. Only a victory pump.

The win is the 13th in Toms' career and moves him to fourth in the FedExCup standings. He's won a major, the 2001 PGA Championship. He's won in his home state, in New Orleans, also in 2001. He's won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship against a stellar world-class field.

None have been as satisfying as Sunday at Colonial.

"To win after this time frame and to come back after what happened last week," Toms said, "certainly means more to me than any other victory."

Toms' wedding anniversary is Monday; he promises he already has a gift for wife Sonya. Having played four straight weeks, he's going to take the next two weeks off. He's going to enjoy time with his kids.

Funny, isn't it, that a week ago we felt bad for Toms missing that short putt. Now he's the latest poster child for perseverance, for overcoming heartbreak, for dealing with adversity and keeping his chin up. At 44, he's a role model and a proud champion of a tournament that for so many years he seemed destined to win.

He wishes his grandfather had still been alive to see it. That's why he struggled to keep his emotions in check.

But Tom Toms was here in spirit on this Sunday at Colonial. Destiny, no doubt, sent him the invite.

"Maybe it's even more special that I was able to win here," David Toms said. Then he left, looking forward to that well-deserved rest and to reacquaint himself with reality. After all, this wasn't a dream.