[Photo: Mike Mulholland]
Well, that’s one way to do it.
It would not be a stretch for Sami Valimaki to have thought about that old cliché after missing the green at the 16th hole, ramming his putt from well off the green 19 feet past the cup then making the comebacker to maintain a one-shot lead. Valimaki maintained that margin over the final two holes to win the RSM Classic for his first PGA Tour title, becoming the 11th RSM champion to earn their maiden victory in the event.
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Valimaki played the four rounds in 23-under-par to edge Max McGreevy by one shot, but didn’t exactly do so by overpowering the pair of layouts at Sea Island Resort, ranking outside the top 20 in each of the primary driving statistics.
Instead, Valimaki leaned on a reliable short game and superior putting, ranking 10th in strokes gained/around the green and converting 11 of 15 scrambling opportunities with his Titleist Vokey SM10 wedges and picking up more than four shots on the field on the greens (ranking eighth) with his Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball putter that features a solid black alignment line through both of the white circles in the back of the putter.
It seemed fitting for Valimaki to win in the relaxed atmosphere of Sea Island as he has played well in similar situations. “I actually haven’t thought about why it has been that way, but of course I always enjoy shooting low scores,” he said. “Then irons and putting is good so probably that’s the one thing why it brings these low-scoring weeks.”
Like this one.
What Sami Valimaki had in the bag at the RSM Classic:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist GT3 (Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red PDX 70 TX), 8 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade R7 Quad, 13.5 degrees
7-wood: TaylorMade Qi35, 31 degrees
Irons (4-9): Ping Blueprint S
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 (46, 50, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
