Only Stuart Appleby's sensational 59 kept Jeff Overton from coming to Firestone fresh off his first PGA Tour victory.
A series of narrowly missed putts kept Jeff Overton in a perplexed mood over the final holes of last week's Greenbrier Classic.AKRON, Ohio -- Jeff Overton was just this close to teeing it up at Firestone Country Club as a freshly-minted champion.
The 27-year-old from Bloomington, Ind., who led after three rounds of last week's Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia, just missed a long birdie putt on the par-3 18th hole that would have forced a playoff with eventual champion Stuart Appleby.
Instead, Overton had to settle for second place – at 21 under -- a stroke behind after Appleby's scorching final-round 11-under 59.
It was a tough finish, for sure, but the five-year pro took the disappointment in stride Wednesday between practice rounds for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. How could he not? After shooting a first-round 64 and a second-round 62, there's a lot to like about his game.
"You know, I'm playing well, and it was unfortunate he shot a 59 and I didn't putt the ball very good on Sunday," said Overton, an Indiana grad and the son of school teachers. "I've just got to continue to keep plugging along and continue to keep getting better."
Entering his first WGC event, Overton has turned in two other seconds (the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Byron Nelson Championship) and two thirds in 20 PGA events this year.
Thursday marks Overton's Bridgestone debut, but not his first Firestone visit. That came in the fall of 2000, his senior year of high school. By that time, Overton had quit all other sports to focus on golf. He was in the area for a junior tournament when one of his friends, a Firestone member, invited him to catch the PGA tournament -- and Tiger Woods, his favorite.
"So I came out and I'll never forget," he said. "I watched him play and people were talking about, 'He might shoot a 59, he might shoot a 59,' and he might have bogeyed 13 or 14. Just being out there, being so into watching it and having so much fun."
Now young hopefuls will be watching him. Overton tees off Thursday at 1 p.m. on the first hole.
Right at home: Woods naturally commands attention as the tournament's defending champ, but Englishman Lee Westwood and the Bridgestone Invitational have left quite an impression on each other.
"This is one [of] my favorite weeks of the year," he said in a media session this week. "I think it's one of my favorite golf courses, so it's easy to get up for this."
The world's third-ranked golfer, Westwood posted top-10 finishes in his last two tours of Firestone, finishing ninth last year (with a 275) and tied for second (271) in 2008, which was good for a smooth $635,000.
"You know, it's a tournament I always look forward to and I think, in the past, results have reflected that for me; second and quite a few top 10s, and I think my lowest score is 63, so it suits my eye as well."
Besides battling the field of 81 other golfers (Australian Robert Allenby withdrew Wednesday with a knee injury and will not be replaced), Westwood is nursing a sore ankle that he said is especially uncomfortable on uneven lies.
He took the last two weeks off to rest it and says he's feeling refreshed.
The break was well-earned. In 10 PGA events, Westwood has collected six top 10s, including a victory at the St. Jude Classic in May and runner-up finishes at the Masters and British Open. His victory in Memphis ended a 12-year winless drought on the PGA tour that spanned 123 starts.
Westwood and Woods are paired to tee off on the first hole at 1:50 p.m. Thursday. Westwood has said that playing with the world's top-ranked golfer helps him focus. The admiration is mutual.
"Yeah, I've always enjoyed playing with Westy," Woods said Wednesday, tracing their connection to their Walker Cup days. "What he's done over the last couple years now has been -- we always knew he had that type of talent, that type of level of play and now he's showing it."
Take cover: Tournament officials sounded a weather warning at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, sending fans away and players to the locker room as the course was closed for about 75 minutes.
Domestic brew: The Bridgestone Invitational boasts an international field of golfers, but only three players born outside the United States have won the event: Australian Craig Parry (2002), Darren Clarke (2003) of Northern Ireland and Vijay Singh (2008) of Fiji.
Walking with Ben: Dr. Michael Hopkins gave Jim and Paula Otis, of Monroe Falls, a nice gift. After making the highest bid in the Drive Fore Hope fundraiser to benefit Boys Hope Girls Hope of Cleveland, Hopkins earned a chance to follow former British Open champ Ben Curtis during Wednesday's practice round.
However, Hopkins was unable to attend on Wednesday, and gave his prize to the Otises, who are family friends.
Ace Conway, executive director of the organization, said Curtis has helped raise over $500,000 in the last three years.
Thrill for life: Tyler Sauric, of Eastlake, received a thrill of a lifetime on Wednesday when Justin Leonard summoned the 7-year-old out of the crowd around the seventh tee and had him accompany him up the fairway.
Staff writer Tim Rogers contributed to this report.