Slowly but Surely, Crane Triumphs Again

SAN DIEGO -- For a player who had two career PGA Tour wins in nine seasons before arriving at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open, Ben Crane on Sunday looked very much like he knew exactly what he was doing.

At least he did until the winning three-foot putt for par on the final hole dropped.

That's when Crane turned quizzically to caddie Joel Stock, looking very much like a man suddenly realizing his pants were on fire.

"You know, I did not know that I had won when it was over," Crane said. "I didn't know who was playing well. I didn't know what was really going on in front of me. I had no idea what was going on.

"I'm thankful I didn't. Someone said, 'one-shot lead' when we were going to the last hole, so I thought he might be right."

Still, Crane insisted victory did not register until final-group playing partner Ryuji Imada made it official.

"He goes, 'Congratulations,' and I go, 'Did I win?' " Crane said. "He kind of looks at me. I said, 'Did I win the tournament?' He's like, 'Yeah.' "

It meant the 33-year-old golf wallflower did everything the pros with their own airplanes did, only a little bit better.

Phil Mickelson stalled, finishing with a 73 that may not have slandered his reputation as the world's No. 2 ranked player, but did turn him into final-day decoration.

Ernie Els shot 69 but, starting out five shots out of the 54-hole lead, it wasn't enough and he finished tied for fifth.

That left the leaderboard under attack from a far quieter force. You know it's a different kind of player when somebody has to point out, yeah, man, you just won.

It got a little hairy at the finish, but Crane, despite missing a three-foot putt to bogey 17 and laboring to a finishing-hole par, posted a solid final-round 70.

Along the way he dropped birdie putts from 47, 22 and 48 feet. It was good for a 13-under finish, one shot clear of a three-way tie for second among Marc Leishman, Brandt Snedeker and Michael Sim.

"Everything and nothing," Crane said when asked what the victory means to him. "I mean, it's certainly really cool to know I'm going in the right direction. But in the past when I've played well, I think I've rested on it, and I think I have a better plan in place this year."

Over a career of 193 tournament appearances before Sunday, Crane's minimal notoriety had come primarily from things he never did.

Most recently, it was not really calling Tiger Woods "a phony and a fake" despite being quoted by a magazine no one had previously ever heard of in a story from December's PGA Tour-qualifying tournament that Crane did not play.

Before that, it was failing to keep pace.

By most accounts Crane has been one of if not THE slowest player on tour. He acknowledges the tendency for a tortoise's pace, and has been properly apologetic, regulating by vowing to streamline a deliberate and lengthy pre-shot routine.

"But it just takes time," he once tried to explain, unaware of the beauty of his comment.

All the same, since Rory Sabbatini went meltdown on him five years ago during the final round of the Booz Allen Classic -- walking to the next tee before his playing partner had holed out and then offering verbal chastisement after they were finished -- Crane rarely visits an interview room without being questioned about slow play.

"That's how a lot of people know me," he admitted.

That's also one of the reasons Crane believes he was Sunday's winner.

Crane sat down during the offseason with his support group and after digesting statistics and results, made a list of issues that had to be addressed for the golfer to move forward.

Headlining the plan was getting a move on.

"Totally," Crane said. "I mean, the whole thing that happened with Sabbatini was a great thing for me because I realized, 'wow, I mean, this is a big deal. I'm too slow.'

"That was definitely a good thing for me. I'm trying to make some changes that will get me away from that because, yeah, it definitely weighs on my mind, and the better off I am with being ready when it's my turn will take some pressure off for sure."

That's what's funny about Sunday's round. The final group took five hours and 26 minutes to finish.

"Yeah, but did anybody notice that I was in a group waiting?" Crane asked. "I almost walked over and went, 'Is anyone looking around that I'm leaning on my golf club right now?' "

Maybe another time. Right now there are other things that still take some getting used to.