SANDY -- It didn't take 18 holes for the best golfers in the Nike Utah Classic to know they'd been beaten. The tournament actually ended at hole number seven.
That's where it became obvious that in addition to consistency, Carl Paulson had luck on his side."It was huge," Paulson said. "I hit a chip shot from about 30 feet out and it went in. It was moving pretty quickly when it hit the hole."
Marco Gortana was tied for second place going into Sunday's final round of the tournament played this week at Willow Creek Country Club. He played in Paulson's group and when the ball dropped, Gortana shook his head.
After that, Gortana said, "We were playing for second place." He shared second place honors with Craig Bowden who added, "I knew we couldn't catch Carl . . . He could break his leg and still get it in."
It is the beginning of redemption for Paulson who's played 83 consecutive Nike Tour tournaments hoping to earn enough money to go back on the PGA Tour. With this win, he ensures he'll be playing golf with the best in the world next year.
Paulson shot 68, 64, 65 and a 69 to be 22 under par at the end with the second place golfers six strokes back. He said he kept his physical routine before each shot the same in an effort to keep his mental game in check.
"I really wasn't thinking about anything but my next shot," he said. "My emotions were running crazy on me. It was tough to keep them in control."
He only did one thing differently Sunday.
"I didn't look at the scoreboard until (hole) 16," he said. "I wanted to play the golf course and not the other players." He joked with his caddy about "things as far from golf as you can imagine" and tried to heed the advice another golfer had given him this weekend.
"He said, 'Don't try and win. You just have to play. Sometimes it's not up to us who wins,' " Paulson said.
In addition to Paulson's near perfect golf, he was over par on only one hole and birdied five others, spectators were treated to a nail-bitting second place finish. Bowden had applied the most pressure to Paulson during Sunday's final round. He came from 12 under par to end at 16, and was at 17 under par until the 15th hole. There he had his only bogey and 16 under is where he would remain.
He went in the club house and watched the leaders finish on television.
"I was hungry, and I knew I couldn't beat Carl," he said. But Bowden could have been beaten for runner-up honors by Gortana. All the pro from South Africa had to do was make a 10-foot putt.
"When I hit it, I watched it, then I started walking and at about five feet I thought it was going in," he said. "It just didn't break."
The ball barely missed the hole and stopped inches from it. He tapped it in for par on the 18th and a share of second place.
"I let out a yell in the clubhouse," Bowden said. "That was a five or six thousand dollar putt. He's a friend of mine and all, but that's a lot of money."
It was the best golf Bowden's played in quite awhile, he said.
"It's tremendous for me (to finish second)," he said. "I haven't played worth a darn lately," he said. "I've played like a goat. It's been awful."
He flew his coach in earlier this week in hopes of sharpening his game. His coach kept a notebook filled with advice for Bowden which he carried with him on the golf course Sunday. At times Bowden could be seen summoning his coaches words and reminding himself of what he needed to do and how.
"I was trying to remember the things he'd said to me," he said. Like everyone else on the NIKE Tour, he hopes to be somewhere else next year -- the PGA. He sits at number 31, but will move up considerably after his finish here. Gortana has more work to do as he is listed at number 65.
The top 15 money winners on the NIKE Tour automatically gain the right to play on the PGA Tour next year.
In addition to $67,500, Paulson earned the right to play in Today's Ganter Cup Challenge. He will go head to head with David Duval one of the best golfers in the world. The top three golfers from the NIKE Tour will also take on PGA celebrities Fred Couples, Craig Stadler and John Cook.
Paulson's game plan? "Just try and keep playing the way I have been. And have a good time. Maybe pick David's brain a bit and try and get in the position he's in."