The newest winner on the PGA Tour is Mr. Cheng Tsung Pan from Chinese Taipei, a place we used to call Taiwan.
You can simply call him C.T.
He pulled a world-class upset Sunday on idyllic Hilton Head Island. The 113th-ranked player in the world had one heckuva final afternoon at the Harbor Town Golf Links and snuck out of there with a victory.
He did it by beating guys like overnight leader and world’s No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Ryder Cup phenom Ian Poulter, Mr. Money-Ball — Matt Kuchar, Masters contender Pat Cantlay and other assorted players, all ranked higher than him.
Pan’s form coming into The Heritage gave no indication that he’d even contend. He was in The Masters, he missed the cut at The Valero, tied for 42nd at The Valspar and tied for 72nd at The Players. Hardly the type of performances that build momentum for a run at victory.
But he did put on a nice run. Two front nine birdies then two more at the 10th and 12th got him to 12-under. He appeared to hurt himself big-time with a poor drive, a topped second and a less-than-stellar third at the 15th. Those poor shots led to a bogey six and he lost the lead. Got it right back with birdie at the 16th then watched Kuchar birdie the 18th to finish 11-under, the only guy who would get within a shot of C.T.
He still went to the range but that trip didn’t last long when Shane Lowry missed the green at 18. The win was in the books.
“It means the world to me,” Pan said while the final pairing of Poulter and Johnson was limping home. “I watched Tiger (Woods) when I was growing up. This is something I dreamed about when I was growing up. It’s a dream come true.”
Pan’s dreams came to fruition thanks to his closing 67. He beat overnight leader Johnson by 10 shots and his final 12-under total was one better than Kuchar and two better than Lowry, Cantlay and Scott Piercy.
