By Kim J. Harmon

CROMWELL – When Jonathan Kaye’s putt drifted by the cup on the 18th hole at the TPC at River Highlands, it wasn’t just an end to a magnificent tournament – but the end to a terrific week at the Canon Greater Hartford Open (GHO).

With a birdie on No. 18, Phil Mickelson earned his second consecutive Canon GHO championship and the $722,000 share of the purse.

And Mickelson, the No. 2 golfer in the world, overcame some of the best players the PGA has to offer in order to do it – David Duval, Davis Love III, Ernie Els, Greg Norman, and Sergio Garcia to name just five.

“It was out best field ever,” said tournament director Dan Baker, formerly of Newtown (a 1984 graduate of Newtown High School, as a matter of fact). “I don’t think we ever had three of the top four players in the world in the field. But that was our goal, to bring the best players to what we think is the best sporting event in New England.”

Mickelson had broken up a four-way logjam on top of the leaderboard with a birdie on No. 15, but gave the stroke back with a bogey on No. 17 and fell back into a tie with Davis Love III and Kaye. With a terrific approach shot, though, Mickelson birdied No. 18 and neither Love nor Kaye could manage the same.

Mickelson became the first to repeat as champ in the 18 years of Canon USA’s sponsorship. And more than 320,000 people – a new tournament record – traveled to Cromwell during the week to see it happen.

Yes, it was a thrilling finish to a spectacular tournament – but the entire week at the Canon GHO was quite an experience. From the Family Day activities (the putting challenge, the Celebrity Long Drive contest, and the trick shot exhibition) to the Celebrity Pro-Am, it was an exciting week of golf in Cromwell.

The Greater Hartford Jaycees, who host the Canon GHO (the Jaycees’ sole fundraiser of the year, bringing in more than $1 million annually) really began the week of activities with Family Day on Tuesday, June 18.

Davis Love III take part in a putting contest with participants from The First Tee of Hartford program at 2 pm and an hour later television and radio personalities took part in the Celebrity Long Drive contest. Chris Berman (ESPN), Rich Coppola (Fox 61), Joe D’Ambrosio (WTIC), Rich Eisen (ESPN), Justin Kiefer (Fox 61), Kevin Nathan (Channel 30), David Nelson (Channel 3), Karel Ravech (ESPN), and Leslie Neilsen (actor) were among those who stepped up to the first tee to take their whacks.

At 4 pm, Chuck “The Hitman” Hiter hosted the Powerade Youth Clinic and pulled off some of his amazing trick shots.

There were a lot more celebrities teeing it up on Wednesday, June 19, for the Celebrity Pro-Am. Bill Belichick (coach of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots), Troy Brown (Patriots’ receiver), Stone Phillips (anchor of Dateline), Stuart Scott (ESPN anchor), Chris Berman (ESPN personality), Karl Ravech (ESPN anchor), Rich Eisen (ESPN anchor), Governor John Rowland, Jim Shea (Winter Olympic gold medalist in the skeleton competition), Geno Auriemma (University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach), Jim Calhoun (University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach), Boomer Esiason (former New York Jets quarterback and CBS in-studio analyst), and Leslie Neilsen (actor, famous for his role as Lieutenant Frank Drebin of Police Squad) were among those celebrities teamed with the tour professionals.

Now that the fun is over, however, the hard work of finding a new sponsor takes precedent.

“In my three years here,” said Mr Baker, “I developed a nice relationship with Canon. There were three key things they liked about sponsoring the tournament – they liked being the sponsor of the biggest and best sporting event in New England, liked supporting all of the community projects because Canon is a community-oriented company, and liked attaching their name to an event which attracts the kind of names we had.”

The process of finding a new sponsor could take several months.

“We had several companies looking at us this week,” said Mr Baker, “and they all liked what they saw. There was a lot of energy and to have the No. 2 player in the world win (the tournament) twice in a row was great.”

For Mr Baker, who played for the NHS golf team under coach Jim Casagrande, this was the 20th anniversary of his first GHO – back when it was held at the Wethersfield Country Club. Prior to heading up the GHO, he was the tournament director of the Ryder Cup at The Country Club of Brookline, Massachusetts.

Memorable Moments

The finish to the 2002 provided a thrilling moment to remember, but the Canon GHO (which has been known as the Insurance City Open, The Sammy Davis Jr Greater Hartford Open, and the Canon Sammy Davis Jr Greater Hartford Open) has had its share of thrilling moments ever since it began back in 1952.

Two years ago, Notah Begay III sank a 23-putt on the final hole to edge out Mark Calcavecchia – setting a new course record in the process. Back in 1999, Brent Geiberger not only won his first GHO but also sank a hole-in-one on No. 16 to earn an additional $25,000.

In 1998, Olin Browne chipped in a 40-foot shot to edge Larry Mize in a playoff. Greg Norman seals his 1995 GHO win with a chip-in for eagle on No. 15. In 1991, Bill Ray Brown earned his first PGA victory with a birdie putt in a sudden-death playoff with Corey Pavin and Rick Fehr.

Paul Azinger won the 1989 Canon GHO with a birdie chip on the final hole. A year before that, Mark Brooks wins when he birdies the third playoff hole – defeating Dave Barr and Joey Sindelar for his first PGA win. Phil Blackmar won the 1985 GHO (Canon USA’s first year) when he birdied the first playoff hole – defeating Jodie Mudd and Dan Pohl.

In 1980, Howard Twitty needed six playoff holes to defeat Jim Simons. In 1975, Don Bies defeated Hubert Green on the second playoff hole to seal the win at the Wethersfield Country Club. In 1973, Billy Casper won his fourth GHO championship with a one-stroke win over Bruce Devlin.

In 1969, Bob Lunn defeated Dave Hill in a four-hole playoff. In 1962, Bob Goalby defeated Art Wall Jr in a seven-hole playoff and in 1961 Billy Maxwell defeated Ted Kroll in a seven-hole playoff. In 1960, Arnold Palmer became the first two-time champion of the Insurance City Open.

Canon GHO 2002

Top Finishers

 

1.       Phil Mickelson (-14)  $720,000 

2.       Davis Love III (-13)  $352,000

2.       Jonathan Kaye (-13)  $352,000

4.       Scott Verplank (-11) $192,000

5.       Joel Edwards (-10)    $152,000

5.       Jim Carter (-10)       $152,000

7.       Dan Forsman (-9)     $124,667

7.       Skip Kendall (-9)      $124,667

7.       Scott Hoch (-9)        $124,667

10.     David Frost (-8)       $100,000

10.     Ernie Els (-8) $100,000

10.     Jeff Gove (-8) $100,000

13. Mathew Goggin (-7)       $72,800

13. Hidemichi Tanaka (-7)   $72,800

13. Kenny Perry (-7)            $72,800

13. Pat Bates (-7)                $72,800

13. Tim Herron (-7)             $72,800