Gregoire & McCue take Playoff in Year’s First Major
Kevin Gregoire sank a 35 foot putt with 6 feet of break down hill on the 6 extra playoff hole to secure the win for team Gregoire / McCue over 2 time champs Chuck Withey and Chris Cooley. McCue and Gregoire were able to come from behind with birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to tie Withey and Cooley. In the playoff, Cooley aced the first hole to take the early lead, but their team gave it back with a bogey on the 2nd playoff hole. Everyone shot par over the next 8 holes until Gregoire dropped the hammer for the win. Corey secured his first Major win while Gregoire may well have taken over the title of Big Game Hunter from Mike Nicholas with Kevin’s 4th major win in less than a year. Three teams finished 1 shot out of the playoff in a tie for third. Those were Willi Hesse and Greg Paddison, bidding to prove it wasn’t David Hansen that carried them to their previous Memorial wins, Rick and Tyler Floyd, and Dan Gubachy and Bill Gordon. Gregoire moves to 2nd in the World Rankings while McCue jumps from 16th to 4th. The wins are Gregoire’s 7th and McCue’s 5th on Tour in 102 and 68 starts repectively. The event marked Jeff Klipa’s Tour leading 350th start. His career began in 2003.