-What a crowd and what a night we have for
you here at our Golf Channel studios. Hi everybody and
welcome to an evening of big surprises, big celebration and
a Big Break II champion. I'm Vince Cellini. Over the
next 2 hours, we will take you step by step
through a grueling match play sur
vival test between finalists Don
Donatello and Kip Henley not only for the right to
be named the champion but for those 4 Nationwide Tour
exemptions in 2005 that could change someone's life forever. As
you can see Kip and Don sequestered backstage in keeping
secret the results of that epic battle. Hi guys. How
are you? We'll talk to them a little while. We'll
bring them out here and we'll also fill all these
empty chairs we have here with the other 8 competitors
for our Big Break II reunion and reaction to this
evening's finale and we'll also gonna look back at the
special moments from the series. Now instructor and co-host Rick
Smith will also join us for some expert analysis and
throughout the evening, we'll check in with Golf Channel's post-game
crew of Kraig Kann, Brian Hewitt, Frank Nobilo and our
special guest and Nationwide Tour money list runner-up D.A. Points
for our breakdown of this final chapter and oh yes,
it wouldn't be a Big Break episode without a surprise
twist, one that's absolutely gonna throw you and our players
for a loop. So lets' get to it. Kip and
Don, Kip and Don mano-a-mano, the Big Break II title
at the Bali Hai Golf Club in Las Vegas on
the line. We'll see you later. -I haven't won it
yet but I knew that I was gonna get here.
To be in the final 2 and so it feels
so great to me. -I'm gonna figure out a way
to do something special in this game you know. It's
not the most important thing in life that is way
up there you know. -Deep down inside I've worked harder
than any other person. When people are sleeping, I'm practicing.
When I'm sweating and I'm tired, I work harder. -I'm
going up against Don, nothing to do, suck it up,
done everything I had to do for this whole time.
-It's hard to take a few people serious because if
they win, they win. If they don't, they don't. It's
not that big of a deal, but it's not that
way to me. It's not that way to get it.
-Yikes. -And you know you can tell how much it
means to him. -Come on. -He's still out there. You
know he's got a job when he leaves here, and
I lost my job before I came out here. -I
don't care about the money. I'm broke, I don't care.
I've been broke my whole life. I want those 4
exemptions. That's what I'm fighting for. Those are 4 chances
of getting your tour card. -But I'm not gonna let
him get me. I'm not gonna let him get me.
I mean I know it's gonna be tough for either
one of us. I don't know how but I'm gonna
try my best to get it done. -And I can
honestly tell you that if I get those 4 exemptions,
I will fight for a win out there and be
exempt on the Nationwide Tour to get my card on
the PGA Tour. I will. -Everything I've got has come
through golf except my family. Everything. Golf has been good
to me but it still owes me big time. -Like
a 50/50 chance now to do something special in my
life. So my goal is to put the heat on
him early and just try to bury him in the
first few holes. -He'll hate it when he sees this
on TV. He plays great and I play great. I'll
get him. -I honestly gonna try to birdie every single
hole the first 5 or 6 holes and get this
over really quick. -I'm better than he is. I know
I'm better. I mean as tough as that guy is,
I got more toes to go with than he's got.
-You didn't come here to finish 3rd. You didn't come
here to finish 2nd. You came here to win. Point
blank. Why play if you ain't gonna go to win?
-Yes, I was pretty calm at breakfast this morning, amazingly
calm. I don't know why. Easily the most calm I've
been all week. -Down to 2 somehow. -Kip, stop reminding
me. You're killing me over here. -I'm sorry. I barely
can choke out there to get my eggs down. Even
though we both wanted to kick each other's heads in,
we still had a lot of respect for each other.
-Sorry, see the food was fine. It's just not going
down right. -That's pretty amazing when you got this far.
I mean course 2 of the T.I. we're gonna get
here but I felt like I was supposed to get
this far. -I knew it before I even got here.
I didn't come here to finish 2nd or not make
it out this far. -I didn't either. -Good morning, gentlemen.
I'm Jamie, a siren of T.I. Congratulations on making it
to the final 2 so your journey has almost come
to an end but 1 final challenge awaits. -Hey. -This
could be one of the most important things of your
life. We sirens have been giving you hints each week
on what to expect. -That's our penthouse. -Today is simple.
Claim victory and the Big Break is yours. -Holy Moly.
-We get one in the flesh. -Congratulations, Don and Kip.
Hi. Missy and Jamie. -Don. -Hey, Jamie. -Nice to meet
you. -Today, you guys will be playing match play to
determine the winner of the Big Break II. Pick a
card. -Oh God. Started out early. I'll let you go
first. -Ace is first off the tee. -Okay do. -Guys,
play well and have fun. -Kip pulled the ace and
got to hit first which good and bad. -Good morning.
-We've got to be going. -Good morning. Good morning to
you guys. -How are you feeling this morning? Kip, what
were you thinking when you woke up? -Oh man, that
I've finally gotten to the day I've been looking forward
to get to so somehow I made it, don't know
how I got here. -You guys sleep pretty good? -Like
a baby I did. -Obviously this is the final match
and we're gonna be playing an 18-hole match play event.
Obviously guys you know what you're playing for. -That's right.
-4 Nationwide Tour exemptions, a 10-thousand dollar financial makeover from
Nationwide, the beautiful Ford 500. I mean this is it.
Good luck and let's get started. -I was not feeling
any confidence at all standing there, you know. I mean
I felt a little bit. It came off just like
that was one of the most important jousts of the
day, that 2-iron off the tee. -I could feel my
adrenaline pumping. I could feel emotions going through me. I
get my mind was wandering. I was trying to stay
focused. -Perfect tee shot, both of them are gonna be
in the 125 to 130 range. -It felt pretty good
on that. I'm nervous just knowing I'm on a mission
and know that now our friendship is over, so right
now and when we get finished our friendship will be
back. -I got to talk about out here that would
be, man. This is gonna be a tough day. This
sucker is relentless. -I'm hitting 104. Hope he finds the
green. -It's a fairly reasonable starting hole though it's not
so difficult you know which can really help your nerves.
About 18 feet left of the hole and a good
start for Don. Kip has driven the ball nicely. A
little three-quarter backswing. And this putt is gonna break to
the right about 4 inches outside the left edge. It
should break to his right. -Hit something just as it
was going up the hill and knock the speed out
of it. -He had missed his birdie putt and I
pretty much had an easy putt. -Here we talked about
Don's strategy wanna go off to a good start. He
said if I can get a lead, I can put
pressure on him. -I was nervous on the putt because
I know how much putting is a big part of
this game and I know the guy that putts well
today was gonna be the winner. -And he's pushed it
just a little bit to the right. The players are
gonna leave the hole where both making par in the
1st. Kip to set up down the right side here.
Well, he's really gotten steep. He's allowed to it. -Going
over there if you're going buddy. -Block it dead right.
-I knew that was bad but I try not to
be negative. I kept saying just keep hanging in there.
You know hit some good shots, you'll get past it.
-I think Don has got just go ahead and play
all the way here. And you can see where he
looked. -My goal was today to be very aggressive. -And
he's hit a draw, kind of a little bit on
the toe but it seems to be heading to a
good direction. If it gets hot, it should roll a
little bit. -There's 235 to the front edge and 250
to the hole. -And straight up the hill, trouble on
the right bunker on the left and I hit an
absolutely perfect shot. -He needs to keep this to the
right of the hole. -I really thought I hit a
perfect shot and he hit perfect. -Let's see if it
gets hot enough to get up there. -And it caught
the edge of the hill there. Instead of going right
it went left and it went down the bunker. -God.
Did you see that? -Yes. -I was wanting to play
great. I didn't play great me beating but it wasn't
gonna hurt my feelings if he played bad enough and
he handed it to me. -He's caught this a little
behind him. You know I'll tell you. He's actually put
it in a good spot. 94 yards away and a
great opportunity for birdie. -Be right, baby. -No clap or
nothing. I guess it must not be that great. -I
was in the rake mark that was pretty deep so
my ball was kind of sitting down. -Thanks. -They tried
to catch it really, really close to the ball so
I could create some spin and I caught it a
little thin and flew the green. -Oh my. -That is
deep trouble. It came out fast, he hit it hard.
He got a little aggressive but he got too close
to the ball and this thing is long. -I walked
it there and so a darn. I knew he has
work cut out for him. -What's interesting about it is
if he doesn't have a drop in a reasonable place,
he should play it from there. I think it's a
mistake taking a drop here. I think his lie is
gonna be in that really soft sand. He's putting himself
in a really bad situation. -I tried to hit a
perfect shot. -Yes and he hit it fat. -And I
didn't pull it off which was okay because I knew
I could still hole out the next shot. -This must
go in or Kip is gonna have a pretty easy
2-putt. -Oh my. -He's left himself with about 5-1/2 to
6 feet. Basically I think Don will be watching him
hit his first putt and then he'll react and concede
the hole. Well he didn't concede. -They're not gonna give
up easily. -But actually he's a foot away and to
be a foot away in his own mind, he goes
I'm nervous. I know he's nervous. I let him go
through that. -I think it went. -He's gonna go ahead
and finish it. He has that light and continuous putting.
Hole is over. -And we welcome you back, the post-game
gang is here and we've got a special guest, D.A.
Points who played the Nationwide Tour last year and parlayed
that into a PGA Tour card. So you know what
4 exemptions could mean to these guys. Welcome. Frank Nobilo
here, the general, Brian Hewitt here as well. Good to
have you guys. Let's start with you, D.A. Kip Henley
says I've got no confidence at all. He said that
on the 1st tee but he also said you know
what? If he's gonna hand it to me, I'll take
it. He got a break there. -Absolutely, well and Kip
seems like a real honest guy and you know just
knows that if he sticks to his guns like he
said that they both played great. He still thinks he
can take him. -Don Donatello is gonna be the guy
you're gonna focus on, Frank Nobilo, who said the eggs
did not go down well and they're playing for a
whole lot of bacon if I can use that. What
about pressure? -Well, you can see that the moment he
has to calm down because as Rick alluded to he
should've played that shot off the path rather than taking
drops at the moment. There's too much nervous energy. He's
gonna have to calm down and calm down really quick.
-Alright. You are the media man right now. You work
in the pressroom on the show, alright. I want you
to put this in a big picture, give me a
headline, do something to get people to know what's going
on. -Well, the tension is so thick right now you
could cut it with an axe and I give you,
I give you a quick 2-hole headline, Donatello not a
happy fellow. -Well I like that. That's very, very good.
Very well done. You get an applause from the crowd.
It's good to have you live. Plenty of fans at
the Big Break all over the place. Last week we
were at the Target World challenge. Perhaps you saw the
interview we did with Fred Couples and his caddy, Joe
LaCava. They each have a rooting interest in this thing
tonight and as we go to break, here are their
thoughts. -Joey already likes this guy. Go ahead, Joey. -Yes,
I'm going with Kip. I think he's the underdog in
this thing. I always go with the underdog. I like
Kip's action and an upset on Tuesday. -You like his
action? -Yes. -Alright. That means you must-- -I'll take Don
anytime. I like Don Donatello. I like the name, I
like his action. He popped off and said you know
a lot of guys don't like him. I don't have
a problem with that. I think he's a good competitor
and both of them have won and I hope you
know they've done a lot of pressure pack things and
he hits some incredible shots but we'll have to wait
and see. I watch it all the time. I enjoy.
I think it's fun for me to relax and watch
you guys and then watch the Big Break. -After falling
1 down on the 2nd hole, Don refocused and responded
with a dead lag putt to make par and have
the par 4, 3rd. At the next hole, the par
4, 4th Kip rolled in a testy par putt to
have the hole and remain 1-up. The players now head
to the tee at the par 4, 5th. -This hole
is called peninsula because the green kind of meanders out
into the lake. -I flared it. -And Kip has taken
that rescue club and going over the right side of
the bunker. -Get over that bunker. -And he's hit it
in the bunker. -He hit right there on the face
and kind of trickled down in the bunker. I hit
just 229, 230. -You're not aiming to bring in the
bunker. -Alright. So we wanna hit it right that sign
or just roll up there. -Hit it right at that
150. -Right at the 150 even if I pull it
over, we're good. -Oh, he's just threaded the needle. Good
golf swing by Don, advantage to Don. -Alright. -I'm not
away. There's no way I'm away. He's first. -Great shot.
-Come on, I'm 48. How can he be 48 right
there if the 150 is back here. I got a
little upset and agitated but I said you know what?
This is a way for me to put pressure on
him because if I put it on the green, now
he has to go for it. He can't lay up.
-He's pulled this left but he's basically trying to take
6 out of play. He's gonna rely on a 2-putt.
He didn't wanna make a tactical there play it right
at the hole, missing it a little bit and knocking
it in the lake. -My ball was sitting like in
where somebody does not push his tee marker or something
down in the sand. It was so square and the
front of it was raised up so 2 inches in
front of my ball, I had inch and a half
of wall of sand that my ball was gonna hit
immediately off impact. -He has a big lip in front
of him and if he goes for it and doesn't
catch it clean he's gonna knock it in the lake,
not the flag. There he had to look. -Oh Jesus.
-Get flat. -For me 1-down. -Look at that. -You don't
wanna be greedy in this situation. The lie is not
good. You have a big lip in front of you.
Take sand wedge, take your medicine, knock, get it up
and down with a wedge. Now he's gonna be forced
to go out the flag. You bring the lake in
the flag and possibly hit a drain. -That was stupid
course management. I should've just sand wedged out in the
fairway and wedge don't try to make my par. -This
is for 4. He must chip it in. -He'll get
it close and hope that Don 3-putts it. -It's good.
Sorry. Butchering this bugger in. -Don 2-putts here and he
will take the hole and take the match back to
even. This is for a birdie putt, 28 feet, breaking
to his right. His lagging it up there nicely about
2-1/2 feet from the hole. Kip is not gonna concede.
He's gonna try to make this putt for bogey. -I
have conceded and the match is all square. It's like
as we go to the next hole. -We're going to
the 6th hole. He's playing 166 to the flag. -My
first thought when I stepped up there is I finally
got to tee. I could actually put a lot of
pressure on him by hitting quality shots because I know
that I don't hit many bad shots. -And it's going
right at the hole. -Go in. Go in. When I
hit that shot, it left my club. I honestly thought
I made a one. -Oh. What a shot that was.
Lesley, that was a really smart play to take 7,
choke it down, go right at the hole. -157. I
had almost a 7-iron for me you know. It's pretty
close the hole. I thought well I ought to squeeze
this little 7-iron in there. You know just let it
cut back a little. -He'll go correct it. He was
afraid of blocking. That's the thing. It's going towards the
left-hand bunker and has hit it up on the cart
path and up into the absolute cabbage. -Jeez. That ball
flew over that bunker. Can you believe? Look at that
ball floating. It's scampered up in that stuff. -Dead's deal.
-Clearly huge advantage Don at this point and quite a
momentum change that we're seeing here. -I run up there
to look at his lie and his lie was really
good and I knew he could still get it up
and down. -Look at this golf shot. -Right. -That is
unbelievable there. -For me not to hit that 1 foot
or 50 feet out in the lake was lucky. I
chipped. It came off perfect. I thought the thing was
gonna go down near the hole. -Good shot there, Kipper.
-I mean it's kind of like it was meant for
him to do well. It was scary. I mean every
time I thought I had an advantage the first few
holes, he would push it right. It hit the hill
and come down in the fairway. I knew that I
needed to make the putt and not give him a
chance to make his and timing. -This is for the
win and to go 1-up and he-- -Oh my. -Put
it right in the jar. What a great birdie. He
didn't give Kip a chance. Talk about momentum. -He made
his this clutch cargo, gave him one of these. He
came out there on fire. I knew it was on
then. -Here we have done 1-up and he is popped.
-I got up there and did like I've been doing
all day and just ripped it right down the pipe.
-I need to start hitting some decent shots, keeping in
my sights. -At the par 5, 7th, Don 1-up through
6 holes pitched to a few feet from off the
green to help secure a birdie 4. After reaching the
green in 2, Kip had an eagle putt to square
the match but couldn't get his putt to fall. Don
remains 1-up as the players head to the par 4,
8th. -We're playing the 8th hole which is 475-yard par
4. We're slightly elevated and there are bunkers down the
left side at 270 yards. It's a contained fairway. Anything
right center is gonna be perfect. -And he's hit it
perfectly down the right side of the fairway. Great golf
swing. Good shot. -I was pretty excited about the shot
I hit. I got up there and did like I've
been doing all day and just ripped it right down
the pipe. -I thought I can't let him just go
run and hide you know. I need to start hitting
some decent shots, keeping in my sights. -Now Kip has
set it up down the right side hoping to hit
that little draw and he's hit that draw. Perfect shot.
It's gonna end up down pretty long and down the
left side of the fairway. Well they both ripped it.
I mean I saw Don get a little bit more
clubhead speed. He's got obviously got a little adrenaline. -Go
in. Go in. -He's going at the flag. The question
is is it the right club. Another great golf shot
by Don. -I hit just an incredible iron shot in
there. -This ball sitting below his feet. Oh, this is
solid. It's going left to the hole. It depends on
what kind of kick he gets off the green here.
It's a good shot. -That's unbelievable and hit that iron
that far. I mean that's way. This ball is sailing
like crazy. -If there's more carry, I mean you can
add a 10 percent at least to your ball flight.
-Okay for birdie and to put the heat back on
Don. And as you know he's still 1-down in the
match. Oh, he's knocked it well by the hole, a
good 4-1/2 feet by and I think what happened there
it was downhill a little bit more than you expected.
What a putt this could be to make this and
to go 2-up running to the 9th hole, clearly the
momentum changed back off that crooked wayward tee shot that
Kip hit. -Let me tell you the way these guys
will be competing down this competition 1-up to be significant
in this challenge. -Look at this. -Wow. -Don is playing.
He's just birdied the last 3 holes in a row.
He has taken control of this match as we go
to the 9th hole. -I'm 2-up and I honestly at
that time when I was 2-up. -Don is 2-up. 10
holes to play. -I said if I can win 1
or 2 more holes, it's all over. -We are back.
It's all over. Boy he's putting, you know-- I mean
earlier we saw Kip catch some lip in the bunker
and Donatello's been giving lip ever since this thing started.
Talk about Don right now. -Well, I think he has
actually played very well from the first hole. I think
that you know the par 5 where he made 6.
Forget about that blemish but those last 3 birdies in
a row, the last one he made was on a
482-yard par 4. So 3 in a row to go
2-up and he's 2-under par in his own cut. He's
playing really well now. -D. A. you're watching Kip. I
mean he's sitting there watching Don Donatello go, go in,
be right. He's making Hal Sutton look like you know
that event was just yesterday. I mean what's it do
in your confidence right now? -Well, I'm feeling for my
man Kip because I've been there and you know I
think if he just hangs in and just let Don
do his talking and just keeping quality shots, like he
had 2 quality shots on this last hole and he
keeps doing that. You never know if there's a lot
of golf left. -It's important to note that both of
these guys are PGA Tour caddies. I mean they've been
out there. They've seen numbers. They've crunched them under pressure.
So these guys have been there. You're watching this thing.
You got me a headline. I don't wanna say you
know, I don't wanna make you nervous but your last
one is good. -Put the pressure on. -Well look. Donatello
has ride the ship and then some, but right now
what he's doing, I'll try this one. Going low at
Bali Hai. -Well. -That' what Don Donatello is doing right
now. There's a lot of golf left. -You're quick. -It's
very impressive and we're off to a break. Holes 9
through 11 are coming up. Stay with us, the Big
Break II finale coming back with more after this. -Don
is 2-up at this point. -He's 2-up and he's going
under par 3. That's 204 yards to the flag. It's
194 to carry, the lake on the left side just
20 feet left of the pin. -I might have stepped
up there with a little too much confidence. I thought
I was in control of my golf ball and in
control of Kip. -He's compensated too much. He's well to
the right. He's missed the green by 35 yards. -I
think that was an anti-left shot. -That's a little too
conservative. I mean you wanted to pick the right kind
of play but you know when you have a guy
down and you're playing well, you gotta take it to
him. -Bobby, can we get you to cut the lights
out before I hit the shot. -Boy, he's joking. -You
know and he's joking about it so this is the
hole. We did the 9th challenge with the blind shot
when we turned the lights off. Oh, this is a
great golf shot, right at the flag. -Just fly, baby.
Be right. -That was unbelievable golf shot. He almost made
it. -I nailed it, flushed it but tugged it a
little bit and it almost went in the hole. -You
hit it just-- -Probably the best shot of his life
but I knew he hadn't been putting good. -I tell
you what. When you're talking about little flip in the
match this is a great time to take the match
back the other way and then that would put Kip
1-down going into the back 9. -And Don's coming in
here, left for the hole. He's gone away from a
little bit. He has about 15 feet. I tell you
what? Kip is gonna make this a match. He's playing
this thing almost foot and a half outside the hole.
He over-read that putt and it looks like there could
be a concession here on this hole. Here we go.
Well, making a putt. -He didn't give me my birdie
putt, you know. All he gotta do is 2-putt from
this far. -For birdie and to take the match to
1-up and he's done so. What a great birdie. -I
really messed up and I have to play wise. I'm
not giving him this putt and I should've just given
Kip his putt so he didn't get any confidence out
of that and he picks it up and he moves
on because he wasn't putting very well. -This hole has
been good to me. -Here we go so here we
have the match. -Halfway done. -We're halfway done and Kip
has that look on his face like here I come.
-At the following hole, the par 5, 10th, Don had
the 12-foot birdie try but just missed. Kip then had
the birdie try of his own to square the match
but once again couldn't get his ball to fall. Don
remains 1-up headed to the 11th. -Lesley, he has 177
yards. You know the altitude and the thin air, the
ball is traveling in another you know 4 to 5
yards at least on every shot. Off the tee ball
is going probably another 15. -Nice three-quarter golf swing there.
That's a great shot. Looks like he's going right at
the flag if it's the right club. -His 6 and
this is a big number but hit 6-iron I flushed
it down there just perfect. -He doesn't have his thoughts
clear. He had to step off of that. It takes
a lot of discipline right there. -He flared one there
big time and I said that's trouble. He knew it
was trouble too. -It hit up on the bank and
ran back down on the green. I thought man if
that would just carry up on the green and stop
up there he would have an impossible putt. -He's grabbing
the right side of the green but he has almost
a 40-footer that's going up the hill and breaking to
his left a good 4 feet. -I wasn't really worried
about long putts. I mean I make a lot of
long putts. -This is very slow putt. You can see
he's giving it a big wrap up the hill. -Get
in there. -Look at this putt. Great 2 putt here.
-We have Kip. He's hit a very good golf shot
on line. He's about 18 feet to the hole. Very
makeable birdie putt. -He had to putt to beat me.
-This putt for a birdie and to take the match
to all square. -And he blew it by like 3
or 4 feet and at that in 2nd, I thought
I might have a chance to win this hole. -Basically
3 feet, now for the tie. -He won't give it
to me and I don't blame him because I was
struggling so bad. He shouldn't give me nothing. -Putt there.
-That would be my normal stance right there. -Oh come
on. -It looked like to me he widened his stance
more than normal and I said no, wait a minute
now, that's not right. -This is the most open tee
shot. It's 440 yards dogleg left par 4. There are
no fairway bunkers to deal with and it's kind of
saddled out very wide so I expect a left-sided tee
shot would be perfect. -Keep tugging that tee ball. I
mean watch out. -Hip has hooked it up and on
the side hill. -Man, I'm swinging out terrible. -Not an
easy tee ball. Man, that sets up easy to my
eye. -Now Kip's hit 2 hooks the last 2 out
of 3 holes. -Alright. Here's a perfect tee shot right
down the center of the fairway, low trajectory and rolling,
beautifully done. -That might have been the best shot of
my life. I hit it straight down the middle off
the tee. -It's just an awkward stance. Tendency here again
is for the ball to go well to the right.
-Be right, sweetie pie. -It's going right at the hole.
-Get neck. -Oh. It's absolutely perfect. -I hit 8-iron from
166 yards and it came off exactly like I called
it out to my caddy. Exactly. I was a little
pumped up. -162 yards to the hole, splitting on the
fairway. You know he hasn't really missed the fairway all
day. -He gets in front over here, body leaning forward
and blocked it. -Keeping everything to the right. -It's good
hook and rolled down in the hole though. -Yes. -It
stayed right next to a sprinkler head. I got over
there and I knew that I get relief that if
I'm standing in or my ball is in ground under
repair which when I took my stance my foot was
in ground under repair. -That would be my normal stance
right there. -Oh come on. It looked like to me
he widened his stance more than normal and I called
you know. I said no wait a minute now. That's
not right. -If you watch it, I'm doing my practice
swings, okay? -Look how close your feet are together. -But
no, I spread my feet at the end. -Got it.
-Like this. -Oh shut up. That's great. Sorry. -I can
take a driver right? -Any club when you're ready. -Oh
you could see that visibly a little flustered is Kip.
I mean it was a simple rules environment over there
with the drop away from the sprinkler head. It's also
been marked just ground under repair and he took a
long time and Kip basically walking, just walked off the
green and got into some shade. It's getting really hot
out here. -That's not his normal stance. I mean you
can say what you want to. -Dropping anywhere in between
there, right? -Don is taking his time on this. -It's
almost like it's starting to visibly upset Kip. It's like
hit the ball. It's gonna come down the hill there
to his left and it's gonna be very quick. Again
the importance of this, Kip's putt straight off the hill
from about 8 feet for birdie. This thing's moving. -No.
-Okay. He's missed to the right. Oh did not break
as much as he thought. -Make my putt. Forget about
it. -What a great birdie this would be after that
tee shot. -Oh. -And he's made it and the match
is all square, Lesley. -Welcome back. Pretty good gamesmanship there
and the crowd has actually applauded. They love it. Good
stuff. Gamesmanship, that's a nasty word at times. Don has
already said he's seen the best shot of his life.
He's seen the best shot of Kip's life out there.
I mean I hate to go back to the eggs
but is he gonna get egg on his face at
some point. Let's discuss this a little bit. -I have
to say you know Kip needs to stay focused you
know. Don's gonna maybe do some things that Kip doesn't
entirely agree with, but he just needs to play his
own game and like he said to himself walking on
to the green you know and I'm going just make
my putt and forget about it. And he did that
and it's got a lot of confidence going to the
next tee. -These guys are watching this and they're sequestered
you know in the green room watching this thing right
now. I mean I'm almost worried that someone's gonna start
jingling poker chips out on the green to get the
other guy nervous. I'm beginning to get afraid here. -Well,
if I had a headline right now with apologies to
John Lennon it would be mind games but you know
Frank I wanna ask you, you've played a lot of
match, big time match play. When somebody is talking a
lot like Don is, what do you need to do
or what would you do to get away from that
or would you confront him? How would you handle it?
-A couple of bogeys. -Well you would confront him. I
mean there's no 2 ways about it. You're perfectly entitled
to tell him to shut up. There's nothing wrong with
that and stand on the other side of the fairway,
literally hit and walk away from it. I mean Lee
Trevino once playing with Tony Jacklin. Tony Jacklin said do
you mind if we don't talk so much today and
Trevino just turn and says good. You listen, I'll talk,
so. You know it does get feisty but once again
it is match play and the thing about it they
are playing for 4 spots. So it is the career,
it's not just a normal round of golf. So there's
a lot up for grabs. -Good point. They've been doing
a lot of skills challenges to this point. This is
match play. This is with 4 exemptions on the line
and we are all square headed to a break. Holes
13th through 15th when we return, don't you dare leave.
-At the par 4, 13th, Kip had an 8-foot birdie
try to go 1-up. The match remains all square headed
to the 14th. -This golf hole has a pretty wide
open space with a green that looks like it's about
7500 square feet. -Yes. -Which is sizeable but again they're
heading the 224-yard shot so the green is matching up
nicely to the shot that they're gonna hit. -Wow, Robin.
-He's just hit it a little right of the hole,
the key is, is the distance right. -Get up there
and bite. -I hit a bullet 3-iron there, had a
little cut, just hit wrong. I couldn't tell where it's
going. It's so far down I couldn't see it hit
the green. -Pintail. -Well, he's found the right side of
the green and will have about 30 feet, looks like
to the hole now. -I tried to hit the perfect
golf shot. -This thing is drawing back just a little
right of the hole. It sounded like he caught it
just a little bit heavy. -Thought he did. -I thought
uh oh. He's got some work cut out for him.
-It was advantage to Kip. -He's now faced with a
difficult pitch shot. -I can't let this guy get 1-up
on me. I've gotta get this up and down. I
hit a very good pitch, to kind of hit again
a little bad spot on the fringe and pick left
because I should've only had about a foot or two
and I end up having about 6 feet. -Kip is
very solid. He's 20 feet right in the hole. One
mistake, you can't make this below this mile on the
hole. He wants this thing, is dying into the hole.
-It's moving. Oh, just catches the corner. -A lot of
things are going through my mind. If I miss this
and we're going to a par 5 the next hole
that I could pretty much lose both holes because he
drives it all further than me. -Wow. This is to
keep the whole thing square going into the final holes
here. Unless a man can get this part. -He took
too long on that putt in his first time that
he messed up and he let me have that hole.
-Kip 3, Don 4. Kip is 1-up with 4 to
play. -He gave me a little break there. -Or 515.
It's all over, the crying part now. I felt the
confidence of a knight standing on that tee. -This knight
get off there killed me. Weak shot. -When I got
up there on the tee, I just ripped my ball
right down the middle like I've been doing all day.
-And here's Don, he's been a machine, been a total
machine right on that tee ball. -Damn -All day. He's
looking for a heater. -Well, he's got a heater. He's
got it beautifully down, I guess. Down at another fairway.
-As I drove up there to look at it and
he was actually in bad shape. -Kip has driven the
ball behind some trees. -I knew that all I had
to do is make birdie and he was gonna have
to hit, do something phenomenal to beat me. -He has
210 to the front edge. He has 235 to the
hole. -Well, this shot it looked like he's trying to
hit a cut. I'm surprised it came out so low.
-That was the most angry I've been ever on the
golf course. Really, really poor that I handled myself like
that but that's-- it's just telling you how important one
shot could make the Difference with me winning or losing
and I was 1-down. -He doesn't really have the direct
shot but if he hits a big slice from up
there, he can knock it down and somewhere where he
can get it up and down possibly for birdie. -I
want it so bad I had a good lie and
I had enough of the golf swing. I want it
so bad to hit me a rocket 2-iron and slice
it up through those palm trees and knocking on the
green. And I could zip this ball right in the
middle of that green starting out there with a big
old high cut. I said Dave, what do you think
about this? You like this and he goes, I just
like you pitching it right over there and I thought
that's me just being stupid and thinking about the miracle
shot. -He's pitched it out right where he should. He's
gonna be faced with 140-yard shot. -So what's Kip looking
at here? -Well the ball sitting above his feet which
means the ball is gonna go to his left, the
pin sitting there really receptive position here. He's hitting about
center of the green and actually it's just on the
right side of a ridge. -Come on. Oh sorry. Kipper.
-You know he had an opportunity there, to kind of
put Don in a bad position and now it's just
reversed. -Wow, Don's gonna get himself out of the bunker.
-You know a good bunker player is gonna typically almost
read a green just like he would hit a putt.
So he's looking at exactly where he is to lay
on his ball and feed it to the hole. Yes,
this ball, this is more I like it. That's more
I like it. That's the bunker shot I expect him
to hit a couple of holes back. -Probably hit one
of the most phenomenal bunker shots I've ever hit under
that circumstance and I almost made it. -Misses his putt.
The match is all square with 3 holes to go.
-Get over there. That hurt losing that hole. That put
a kink in my armor big time. -Don 4, Kip
5. Match is all square with 3 to play. -I
knew we were coming down the last few holes and
I knew if I made this putt and got 1-up,
that it would be 1-up with 2 to play which
is huge. -Kind of, I feel like I can throw
the ball on that green. -The pin is only 141
yards from the tee and looking at where it's located
is probably the easiest pin if you hit it behind
the hole and spin it back a little. The pin
now is bringing in the front side of the lake.
I don't expect anybody to hit one heavy at this
point. Don's gonna hit. Looks like he's between a pitching
wedge and a little chip 9, 3 holes to go,
match is square. -Sit. -Oh, God. That's out of here.
I kind of came over the pitching wedge, flew it
a little long and I knew I was pretty much
done at that moment because I knew that he was
gonna hit it in there close. -Oh this is good
shot, going right in the hole and it looks like
the distance is perfect, about 12 feet to the right
of the hole and a very makeable birdie putt. -Thanks.
-I knew we were coming down the last few holes
and I knew if I made this putt and got
1-up, that would be 1-up with 2 to play which
is huge. -This putt is gonna break to his right
about 3 feet. -Again I hit an unbelievable putt. It
was going right in the hole and it just wasn't
meant to be. -God. -Got a little custer coming back.
-It had a lot of break. It wasn't an easy
putt. There was downhill. I was comforting in that because
I didn't have to worry about hitting. You know I'm
been leaving all my putt short. -Kip's putt is not
a slow putt. His putt has some speed coming down
also. -Oh. This good? It stopped that far short. -That
was the last place I thought he would leave it
would be short. -Downhill from 10 feet, I didn't have
my confidence a whole lot. -This putt is absolutely back
undone again, the most important putt that he's had. -I
said that there's no way he's gonna miss this but
I'm not giving it to him. Right in like he
had all week. -Wow. We're all square going into 17th
here. -Well, what a match this has been and in
fact you know we've got 2 very interesting golf holes
left to play. This hole measures like 467. It's playing
just under 400 yards. -A little Monica Seles there. Rip
it right down the pipe and did a little Monica
Seles. Gave a little-- got to give a little extra.
-He's hit it solid. He's hit it down the right
side. Good tee shot. -I hit 187 or 188 yards
straight up the hill. Oh, be as good you look
honey. Is that long? -No. he was lucky. -Kip is
in between 7 and 8 and it looks-- actually appears
that he's gonna go with an 8-iron. -I hung it
out. This flag, get on the top there. -I hit
a decent 8-iron, not great. Hung it out a little
bit. And I got up there and thinking that my
ball was pin high and he's as good as mine
in front of that tractor. -They get up there and
I think I'm gonna be about 3 feet, I'm gonna
go 1-up with the last hole to play. -Need a
rule official. -And all of a sudden it turns into
a soap opera. I mean I'm under this tractor which
is a movable-- you can move it but the problem
with it is that all these tire tracks and you
got dropped from tire track. These are all tire tracks
where they've gone in here and messed up the area.
-If your ball lies in there, there's nothing like a
play. -So what are we gonna do? -Let's wait and
see. Let's move the tractor-- first of all let's move
this and we'll see what happens. -Okay. -I'll say well
maybe it'll be out of gas. -I knew that if
he didn't pull straight, I was gonna have to putt
through like a train track and that whole area is
gonna be messed up. I got upset again because I
didn't want something that I couldn't control make me lose.
It's not fair man. It's not fair at all. You
could see the dirt and everything just all getting tore
up and I gotta putt through that so I can
drop it anywhere in between this? -Yes, sir. Me having
to putt through all that track could make the difference
between him winning and me losing. -He doesn't get relief
from the tire tracks. -I knew there's tire tracks. -Oh,
he's not. -This is a tire track right here. You
can see the line it's taken. You can see the
line. Just look at the-- -I see these. -And they're
going all the way down there. -Okay, I'll give you
that relief. -I'm comfortable with that too. -Marvin made a
great ruling, fair ruling. -Okay. That is not close into
the hole. -And now I get a club length from
there, right? -You can get any club length, that club
in there, from 1 club length to any club in
your bag from there. And you're on play. -Okay. He
gave me a fair ruling and I had a fair
chance to hit a fair putt. -I think the rule
of thumb is you pop whenever you can. If you
feel you can putt and get it up and down,
that's always trying to do, not trying to make it.
-If I can get this to go in, you know
he's got a birdie 18th to tie me. Shoot, the
devil. -That's good. And around. -This putt is not gonna
move much at all. This defines pressure in its finest.
-Got up there with the attitude that I was the
best putter in the world and great putters don't miss
these putts. -That's pressure right there. -Don 4, Kip 4.
Match is all square with 1 hole to go. -I
center cut it. We're all square going to 18th. -Well,
we are back and Kraig Kann along with Brian Hewitt,
Frank Nobilo and D.A. Points who's headed to the PGA
Tour off the Nationwide Tour. I'm keeping track all these
things now for Don. He could have a job as
a commentator. I mean the guy is good. He's already
said great swings. He's got great shot. He's got great
putt. Great result and now he's great ruling, okay. I
mean he is working every angle out there. How do
you like your man? -Well, the scary thing there is
he never at any stage thought of chipping that so
I was actually quite worried because it meant that he
was very, very nervous because the fact is with the
ball was in the first position after he took a
drop was a relatively simple chip but everybody knows it's
still harder to chip than putt so he just wanted
to putt and get it close. So for my mind
that putt that he just made to half was phenomenal
because it was a tough putt because you knew internally
he was really feeling it. -Really good match and these
guys who are professional tour caddies having other caddies on
their bag, it's hot. It's over 100 degrees. I'm not
making excuses but this is heated right now. -Absolutely. It's
pressure runs the pressure you know of anything. You wanna
win and no matter what, it doesn't matter if it's
for a 2-dollar Nassau, for 4 Nationwide spots, you wanna
win and these guys are battling it out and Kip
you know maybe hasn't hit at the best all day
but he's coming up strong down the stretch and he's
given Don a good run for his money. -Maybe this
18th hole will be according to Don the greatest 18th
hole ever. -Well, you know Don still has not had
an unexpressed thought at least that one I like to
think out but if Magic Johnson used to say, he
had the great line. They're all square with one to
go. Magic Johnson would've said it's winning time. -Yes, yes,
and that's what's it all about. When we come back
the 18th hole. Man, I think it's gonna be great.
We'll be right back. -Lesley here we're heading down to
the final hole, the match is square. Don has hit
another good 4-footer to stay in the match. -All day
I'd hit every single fairway. I got nothing ripped right
down the pipe. I'm not the longest guy in the
world but there's a lot to say for guys who
hit the ball straight. -I'm still feeling good about my
golf swing. This roasted off 18th. -Perfect tee shot down
the left center. It's very long also. -I mean I
clobbered it. -I had 161-hole and that's a normal 8-iron.
When I got over that 8-iron I was pretty nervous.
Fly. Fly. I knew that if I hit it on
the green I put pressure on him. My caddy said
that was a great shot because you're only have about
10 or 15 maybe 20 feet away and you're gonna
have an easy putt because you're not trying to worry
about the speed. I just had a great feeling. -I
got there and I had a little splotch and not
bad. I had a little bit of mud on it.
I never felt confident on my yardage there. Nice full
soft edge, should be iron and this kind of made
it a little bit of a scare swing and lost
my angle and fatted it. -He's going at the flag.
He missed it and did not hit them all solid.
Oh, he's just hit it in the bunker. -One bad
swing, Kipper. The wind kind of helped it along. That's
in a bunker, ain't it. And that bunker to have
gone in the water just as easy. Nice chilly chopped
it. -He's gonna blow it and I blew it. A
bunker shot. An up and down for Kip. I think
he was surprised he got it heavy and that's the
last thing he needed to do in this situation. -Brutal.
Look what the ball hit. -It made a big indention.
I mean right under the left lip. It could've stuck
in there and I would've been completely-- a hundred balls
couldn't got it up and down. -He's drawing a good
lie but you know Don here he is. He's grinding
it out. He's gotta get this up and down. -I
try to be positive and say you've been hitting great
bunker shots all week, you know. Just do it again.
-Look at this shot. I tell you what? That's a
great golf shot and I really have been teaching this.
-It's interesting what Don and Don's ball drew back and
hit the reach actually-- this is one that points in
the hole. -Well, you need one putt in your life
to go in. This is it. My caddy and I
you know read that putt so it's a little down
grain, downhill. -I thought this guy was gonna make the
sucker. He's gonna run across that green and be the
happiest guy in the world and I'm gonna be sad.
-This is his chance to close him off. -Come on
double D. -And win the 4 exemptions. -Come on. -The
Nationwide, the money, the car, the opportunity. -I hit an
absolute perfect putt. -Oh fuck. Almost winning and I was
about went to my knees because I thought I hit
the winning putt. Fuck. -You've seen Kip missed his putt
today. -Yes, he has. He's missed some short putts and
this range here it's obviously, it's all or nothing. -It's
hard. I had started the ball or a ball and
a half outside the hole for 4 feet. If you
missed it, at least be a man. Sit there and
make a good stroke. A great first move he's getting
this only but I thought wait, he's got so much
at stake he's been so nervous. Maybe he might miss
this little big short ones. And I started thinking if
he would miss this it would kill him. That's not
fair, Don. Pick that up. Let's go. -Thanks, buddy. -I
said pick it up. Let's go. -Kip 4, Don 4.
Match is all square. We're going to hole 19th. -I'm
just thinking birdie is gonna win and I know one
of them wants to get it out of the way.
They both wanna get out and win the first hole
and get out of here. I know one thing has
just been the state of this entire series with playoffs
and challenges and 18 holes with some pretty darn good
golf and I think obviously you're thinking birdie is gonna
win and I know one of them wants to get
it out of the way. They both wanna get at
the win the first hole and get out of here.
They've both selected fairway clubs to avoid the bunker on
the right. -Good luck, Kip. -You too, man. -Sudden death
playoff. -I was up first and I ripped it right
down the middle. -He's hit another perfect drive down the
middle. His driving has just been fabulous. -Man, I felt
good about that. -You know that's his bad swing. He
made a flippy hook the way inside this heading to
the left but again he's made a good play and
his course management strategy by not hitting driver. -We're looking
at Kip, one time he had sand wedge. -Come on,
turn. Oh. I thought my course management is perfect. It's
just perfect number right here, might as hit it stocking
it. It was actually pin high. -I hit a 54-degree
wedge, choked down on it, try to hit it about
100 yards. I just didn't lined it up and I
hit it 2 or 3 yards right at the flag
but I knew I was up on the upper tier.
-Bad shot man. -20 feet it's gonna work down the
hill and back to his right. -Kip was kind of
happy. He's here with 2 birdie putts. -He had this
20 footer. I'm sitting and thinking I gotta make this
12 footer to tie this guy. He's been so tough
all day. He's not gonna let me get out like
this. -I hit a perfect putt. Just again hit a
little too hard. He hit it right through the break.
-That's good. -And here is Kip for birdie and all
the marbles. -I said man this is a great time
to end this sucker right here. Just trying to making
strokes that you made on 18th. -I realized that I
had no control over my destiny, that Kip had control
over his and me. -Kip for the win -God. Holy
dang. Kipper. God, the blues. God. If a fly lands
on it, it goes in. It's teethering on falling in
the front lip. -When that ball stopped, my heart stopped.
Thank God. Oh my God. Did I get a break.
-Don 4, Kip 4. Match is all square. -I tried
to block it out. I said man that's almost fate
for Donnie right there. -We're going to the 2nd hole
which is a par 5. Number 2, 2nd playoff hole,
505 yards. Player should take it down the right side
and just bomb it. -Oh, what a heartbreaker for Kip
there. -Well, he's really hit a great putt. It just
sat right on the lip there. A little bit harder
and it's in, and it's over and now we're going
to the par 5 number 2, second playoff hole 505
yards. Player should take it down the right side and
just bomb it. -I knew it was a pretty tight
fairway. I mean there's probably only 10 yards wide. -And
he's dropped that one on the inside. He's gonna hook
but it should hit and roll. That bunker really isn't
in play. -I ripped it right down the middle. I
kind of towed it a little bit but I hit
it well enough to be fine. -He just absolutely shoved
it down the right side and he's gonna be in
there, talking an iron situation going into this green. -Well
back this far again, my driver has got the best
swing I've ever made in my life. I'd killed it.
-He was probably about 40 yards ahead of me. -It
was advantage Kipper right there. I knew I had the
ball back in my court. -So he's faced with 235
yards to the front edge and about 350 to the
flag. -I knew that I needed to make birdie because
Kip was way down there and he was only gonna
probably hit a 5 or 6-iron in. -He's heading to
the right and he needs a good kick off that
ridge. Oh and he's got that kick. -How about that?
Wow. -And he gave me one of those Don Donatello
how about that baby or something like that. I try
to just block it out while it fit. -After seeing
Don's kick, he needs to take that aim, make eagle
and get out of here. -I was confused. My mind
was racing so much at stake there. 5-iron. I said
well I just choke it down a little bit and
take this to the little off and go ahead and
choke down a little bit and go in the hole.
-He has 170 yards left for the play. -It came
off exactly like I had it in my mind's eye.
-He's got the right club. Tremendous golf shot, eagle putt
coming up. Clearly a must 2-putt because Kip is inside
the 15 feet and this first putt might be one
of his finest, if he hit it hard enough. No,
he's well short. He's got another 10 feet left. He's
looking down. He's very upset with himself that he didn't
hit the ball hard enough. -I knew he was gonna
be short but I didn't know he was about you
know 6 to 8 feet short. -Okay, Lesley. There it
is coming down the hill. It's got a lot of
speed. -For the first time, I started saying hey I
can win and right now this could happen. -I said
he just missed one of the last hole. I have
no control over what he does. -This is for eagle
and the win. -That's going the other way. -Just pick
it up. -Talk it in, double D. -He's looking at
it in every way you can imagine. -Really the toughest
putt I've had all day that I was really struggling
to read it. I took a lot of time over
that. -I walk there and I told my caddy I
said we're gonna go down this next hole. There's no
way he's gonna miss this. -Oh, missed this one. -I
think he's gonna center cut this. Just go birdie 3.
-It's over if this doesn't go in. -And that was--
I mean I don't know how. It was-- it hurt
really bad. -Double D. There's nothing fair about it, man.
You're tougher then it's impossible to describe how kind of
tough you are, man. -Good job. -Oh my goodness. Gracious
guys. This is too much. It's unfair. I swear 50/50
happy, 50/50 sad. -Congratulations. I mean it was an incredible
match. You've won it. It got down to the-- look
at the 2nd playoff hole and it was an amazing
match, guys. I mean it's a real tribute to both
of you and how you play. You played hard. You
fought hard the whole time and I know you're crushed
right now and that's-- -It's so sad that you gotta
go through 9 people or 8 people and you feel
like you haven't got anything if you don't win. You
feel like a loser. Even though I'm a winner, you
still lost. -Well, you were playing for the big stakes
and unfortunately there's only 1 winner and that's what's unfortunate
about it. I have to say you guys both deserve
to be on the Nationwide Tour and certainly eventually the
PGA Tour. Both of you played good enough to do
that and I think a lot of the viewers are
gonna see that you guys have heart and that's something
that you have to have to play on the PGA
Tour, is a big giant heart and both of you
guys have that. -This is hard to swallow. Even though
a good guy won, I consider myself a good guy.
-Winning ain't always great. Today it wasn't 100 percent great.
Man, my heart sunk right into my socks for Don
and happy that putt didn't go in. -I honestly thought
this was my last straw. I honestly thought that if
I didn't win this, I don't know what I'm gonna
do with my life. That's why I tried so hard.
That's why I left everything out there on the golf
course. -It's just intense, money player. -After all I appreciate
all Don. You know he says one two things. -Boo
ya. -He's a classic guy. He really is and I
appreciate his intensity. -I've been pulling my whole life. I
wasn't gonna change my life but those 4 Nationwide events
would've and that's what hurts the most. It's gonna be
very, very tough to swallow and I'm gonna try to
keep my head up high and be proud of myself
that actually I came out here as a winner even
though I didn't get all the great things that Kip
got. -You're gonna start practicing, working more so you can
do something with those tour exemptions. -Big time. Work hard
and try to make something of it. It's not you
know it's not-- I haven't won the world you know.
I've got some work in front of me. Mom and
dad and girls, had seen the sun. I've been there
my whole life. You should be there. How come you're
not there? A smarter person would've quit. My girls are
gonna be proud of me if I have been first
out, came home with no arm, they wouldn't care. They
love me like crazy. I'm the luckiest guy in the
world, man. I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I
got my winning spirit about me from my dad. I
knew I was the best player. My game was on
top. In my heart I knew I was the best
player of a ten. I mean I made some cuts
on the Nationwide. It is not even close. This way
it seems 100 thousand of those. It just kept working
out to where I kept getting it go on. Getting
that ball down that bunker on 18th I just stepped
right over a huge hurdle in my golf career. Hopefully
I can bring something to the tournaments that I get
invited to. I think I'll be 100 percent ready and
taking off. Old caddy friend told me a long time
ago, Kippy old boy, it's cute walking up that mound.
Sun shining. I just seen it. Mom and dad, girls,
I have seen the sun. -And we are back and
how about that for gut-wrenching, emotional, fabulous golf. What a
finish we have if we are going to crown a
champion very soon. But as promised folks the 8 other
contestants who were part of Big Break II, let's give
them a big hand. Talk to you guys in a
moment. There's still buzzing about what they saw. Now let's
bring out our runner-up and our champion for Big Break
II, Don Donatello, Kip Henley III, congratulations. -Good job. -What
an effort. Come on out guys. And Kip's family is
here as well. Sissi and daughters Stormi and Darbi. Come
out here give him hug. He deserves it. Ladies and
gentlemen, we have lots to talk about. Come on up
here, ladies. Go find the winner. -You made it, buddy.
-We'll be back here. We'll talk with the winner, the
runner-up, all the rest of the guys. We'll have more
analysis on the show and we have a twist you
will not believe. Keep it right here. -Welcome back to
the Big Break II finale. We actually now have a
champion. Congratulations to Kip and boy guys we saw gamesmanship,
we saw sportsmanship. I mean this was really golf at
its finest. In the middle of the 20th hole, Kip
was actually beginning to sound like Don, saying this was
the greatest shot I'd ever played. I mean it got
that good for us. I wanna talk to you first,
Frank, about the shot making. For all that we talked
about with Don and him talking, he played some marvelous
golf shots out there. I mean the guy can really
drive the ball. -There's no 2 ways about it. I
think they both did, but you know it's a cool
game, it really is a cool game especially when sometimes
it appears to be in slow motion but you know
they both brought a lot to the party and you
know it's easy to say walk away with your heads
held high but they can't. They really can't. -Second on
the Nationwide Tour money list for you, D.A. What about
the future for Kip out there? What can he do?
-Well, Kip has showed today, one that he's got a
lot of heart and a lot of game. I mean
drives it a long way, hit some really clutch shots,
played that par 5 like an easy par 4 there
on the last hole. You know I think he'll be
in great shape. Like he said he's played out there.
He's seen what it's like you know. He won't be
shocked or anything like that. I think if he gets
some confidence in the putter, he can do some damage.
-Alright. Let's give the folks what they want. They need
another headline. We'll call this our banger head as you
like to say. -Well, I just try to keep it
simple. You heard Kip say he's the luckiest guy in
the world. How about a two-word banger headline blond ambition.
-I like that very much, very much and it's been
great for all of us. It's been a great year
for the Golf Channel family and after watching this show
and all the success the 10 competitors, big part of
that Golf Channel family. They're a big part of our
success this year. For all of us here, Kraig Kann.
Back over to you, Vince. -Alright, Kraig. Great job, fellows.
Thanks for your analysis all night long, a lot of
fun and the man standing next to me here needs
no introduction. You saw him all throughout the broadcast, Rick
Smith, one of the great instructors in the sport and
the co-host and Rick, you've seen a lot of golf
all around the world. It's pretty exciting match right there.
-Well, especially all these guys. They could really play well
and I think one of the things that I know
had to bother you guys. I mean throughout the entire
series had to be the cameras. You know you guys
can go play and you can play winner circuits and
mini events and so forth but all of a sudden
you have 8 cameras all over you. What was that
like for you guys you know in the match, the
last match obviously? -It was really tough because you had
30 cameras and they were running all over the place
and then they would say hey, you can hit now
and it's like thank God and you get up there
and you hit it and it was tough. -You know
one of the things that we have to look at
the match, it obviously was a rollercoaster. You know you
were starting off. He got pretty hot there in the
beginning and then you were trying to find your swing.
It looked like you were really trying to get it.
You kind of grinded your way through it which you
did very well and all of a sudden you started
playing. Where do you think the turning point was in
the match for you? -I really think the 9th hole
when I stuffed it in there and I had about
5 feet and Don didn't get it up and down
and he didn't concede the putt to me and I
just, you know I hit a putt instead of me
him giving it to me, me picking it up and
went into the next hole, you know and having to
win the hole obviously but not made any birdies and
a feeling of confidence and he made me putt it
and I sooner cut it so now I went well
wait a minute now, I got a little momentum going
here. I feel good. I'm making some putts. -Alright. Well,
Kip to the victor go the spoils. We had some
toys for you here. Rick has something for you. -Something
that's like hot. -Goes a little faster than a golf
cart. -And it's something that you saw out there. -Come
on up here. -This is the beautiful Ford 500, the
car that you were seeing on the show. -Oh my
goodness. -The whole time and this is on behalf of
the Ford family. -Congratulations. -That's pretty timely. -They're behind you
and they really wish you all-- -They are a great
choice. -The luck in the world and I know all
these guys do too. -Absolutely. -You were a great sportsman.
-Also-- -This is great. Don we made it. -Kip, here's
your check. -That would be. -For 10 thousand dollars. -Thanks
man. -Nationwide and we wanna pass that along to you
and I know that you've been wondering about those exemptions
as well where you might be playing. -Yes. -So we're
gonna reveal those to you. -Alright. -So you can get
your calendar all squared away. Your schedule all squared away
and there they are. You're gonna start at the Rheem
Classic in the Henrico County Open, LaSalle Bank Open, and
the Lake Erie Charity Classic, so that's from about late
April to late June or maybe beyond, depending on how
you do. -Some of the fast bentgrass. -You wanna keep
that thing going. -Listen, you go have a seat now.
I wanna ask you about you said during the broadcast
that you were the best player that no one's ever
heard of. -Yes. -You just kept grinding it out, grinding
it out. Tell us about the journey. What was the
entire journey like all the way to the win? -Oh
my goodness. It start when I was a kid. I
mean I was 14 I-- -But we don't have all
that much time but you can-- give us the clip's
notes. -I started when I was 14 years old. I
know I'll be a tour player and now I'm 44
and I've been knocked down more times than Mike Tyson's
opponents man but I don't know why I don't quit.
I should quit. -Well, now Donnie, Donnie, Donnie, you are
so much fun to watch. You made the show. -He
did. -And this is from-- I thought I was a
type A personality. You make me look like Gandhi. -There's
no drama. No, not at all. -And in fact, we
put together a little best of Don Donatello. -Let's take
a look. -Double D, D squared, Don Donatello. The most
intense interesting person I think I've ever met. -Boo ya
