Popeye, you million dollar beauty !!

[Donny]

It's being called the sweetest shot to win a play off, ever !!

Good for you, Popeye. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke or a better character.
-------------------------------

Million-dollar eagle

By staff writers and wire services - Fox


AUSTRALIA'S Craig Parry is almost $1.2 million richer after winning the Ford Championship in Miami with an amazing eagle on the first playoff hole.

Playing the shot of his life, Parry holed a six-iron from 160 metres to win in an astonishing fashion in a play-off with Scott Verplank.

The gritty little Sydneysider judged his shot perfectly at the first extra hole, the par-four 18th, and watched in delight as it landed short of the cup and trickled in for a most unlikely eagle at Doral's Blue Monster.

"I was aiming a metre or two right of the flag, trying to hit it straight and it had a bit of a draw. For it to go in the hole is amazing," he said after collecting his 20th professional victory, his second on the US PGA Tour.

"I guess he was supposed to win," said a shellshocked Verplank.

Parry, who nearly missed his first round tee time after oversleeping, pumped his right fist in delight, threw his club into the air and hugged his brother-caddie Glenn, who woke him only 14 minutes before his tee time on Thursday.

The 38-year-old collects $US900,000 ($1.19 million) and an expensive sports car for his victory, which should come close to earning him a spot in next month's Masters.

Earlier, Parry (6 and Verplank (67) finished regulation locked at 17-under-par 271, one shot ahead of South African Retief Goosen.

Parry, who started the day with a one-shot lead over Gene Sauers, was in a relaxed mood as he teed off in front of a couple of hundred spectators, a far cry from the thousands following Phil Mickelson.

He split the fairway with his drive, found the green with his second shot and two-putted for a confidence-boosting birdie.

Another birdie followed at the difficult par-three fourth, where he almost had a hole-in-one before tapping in from one-metre.

He hit it stiff at the fifth for another birdie, and picked up another shot, from five metres, at the par-five eighth.

But despite playing the front nine in four under, he couldn't shrug off David Toms, who picked up five birdies in the outward half to trail by only one shot at the turn.

A two-metre birdie at the par-five 10th extended Parry's lead to two shots, but then the putter went cold and he didn't make another birdie the rest of the way, throwing in a bogey on 13.

Verplank made a great birdie on the 17th to tie it up, they both parred the 18th, to which they returned for the play-off. Parry also collected a $US140,000 Ford GT for his trouble. The car, with a 500-horsepower 5.4 litre supercharged V-8 is the most valuable car ever offered as a prize in PGA tournmment.

[Donny]

Parry lodges protest

Fox

CRAIG PARRY today complained to the PGA Tour over comments by NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller, who reportedly said the Australian's swing was enough to make Ben Hogan puke.

Parry admitted his swing is not technically pretty but he proved his worth when he played the shot of his life yesterday to hole a six-iron from 160 metres to win the Ford Championship in Florida.

During commentary of the match, Miller – who won 24 PGA Tour events including two Majors – said Ben Hogan, who won all four Major tournaments, would be sick if he saw Parry's swing.

"I've rung up the tour today and said; 'Can we sort this out because there's no need for it'," Parry told the Nine Network.

"I mean, sure my swing mightn't be all that pretty but I get the job done.

"I've got the winner's cheque and there's a lot of other guys that swing it really good and they're down the road, or a lot of other guys aren't even on tour.

"So what do you want to do?

"Do you want to hit the ball and know where it's going or do you want to hit it and look like you look pretty?"

Parry later told radio 2KY he will confront Miller over his comments when they next met.

[Donny]

How Tiger changed Popeye's career

From correspondents in Miami, Florida - Fox

WHEN Tiger Woods decided to play in the New Zealand Open two years ago as a favour to his caddie, it set off a bizarre chain of events that changed the course of Craig Parry's career.

It came at a time when Parry was giving serious thought to abandoning the PGA Tour. He had finished outside the top 100 on the money list for the first time in his career, and was leaning toward playing the Japanese and Australasian tours so he could spend more time with his three kids in Australia.

His victory in the '02 New Zealand came with a perk that Parry didn't even know about.

Because Woods - No. 1 in the world - was in the field, the tournament received enough world ranking points that the winner became eligible for the NEC Invitational in Sahalee.

Parry arrived in Seattle still uncertain about his future when he ran into Scott Verplank at a restaurant.

"I was having a beer with him and he told me that this was the last tournament he was playing over here," said Verplank. "And he was serious. I said, 'Well, what are you going to do, just go retire?' He said, 'Well, I'll just play a few in Australia. I'm tired of traveling'."

Parry won the World Golf Championship event, his first PGA Tour victory in 235 starts. Along with $1 million, he was exempt on the PGA Tour for three more years.

"Funny how that all works out," said Parry today.

Even more bizarre was that Verplank was his victim at Doral last week when Parry won by holing a 6-iron from 176 yards for eagle on the 18th hole in a playoff. Only 18 months ago, Verplank was listening to Parry talk about quitting the PGA Tour.

"I keep asking him when's going to retire," said Verplank.