The Final Pairing was Running on Fumes on Sunday

if you know me, you know that I love going fast, gambling, and anything that involves skill.  In other words, I have few games I like playing more than challenging my car's gas gauge in a game that I call "Running on Empty."  (Don't sue me, Jackson Browne.) 

The game is simple.  Drive the car until the tank gets perilously low and then see if I can find a way to navigate to a gas station and fill up before I have to get off on the side of the road.

I love the game because it has a lot of depth.  I need to know the terrain I am driving on in order to know when to accelerate, what speed to go, and what maneuvers I need in order to get to the pump.  Also, I have to be able to estimate how much gas is actually left in the tank and, therefore, the distance to empty.  Sometimes, the gas gauge is deceiving.  I really enjoy it.

I was playing it after Henrik Stenson had won the Players yesterday and I realized that the game was a great metaphor for the tournament.  Consider the Distance to Empty gauge.  It's not intended to be completely accurate, but rather give a decent guess about how much gas is left in the tank.

When Alex Cejka arrived at the first tee of Sawgrass on Sunday, it was clear that he was running very close to empty.  His gauge may have looked like this.

But, really, he had about as much as Cejka did when they started on Sunday.

After a front nine 42, we knew the gauge was accurate.  Playing 54 holes in -11 and holding the final round lead was too much for his car.  He was out of gas quickly.

Meanwhile, his playing partner Tiger Woods had gone around the Stadium Course in -6 for three days.  With rounds of 71, 69, and 70, Woods appeared to be in contention for his second Players title.  It seemed that the buzz was how Woods would cause Cejka to melt down and how the world number one would rise to the top to capture the crown.  Clearly, the gauge was busted. 

Woods' mileage was being grossly overestimated.  He had little in the tank this week.  He had little in the tank at Quail Hollow.  Woods has consistently shown that he is still trying to shake off tournament rust and get his stroke back with both the driver - at least to a respectable percentage of fairways hit - and the putter.

You know how the gas gauge sometimes shows a mileage increase when you are going uphill?  Woods was driving uphill all week at the Players.  His position improved after each round despite playing poor golf by his standards.  The gauge may have said this:

Meanwhile, Swede Henrik Stenson must have rented a Toyota Prius (run with me on this) from the car rental place at the airport.  He had a great gauge with a great travel plan.  He got out of the gate in 68 on Thursday.  He backed it up with 69 on a solid scoring day on Friday.  When it got tougher on Saturday, he didn't fade away with 73.  Then on Sunday, with mediocre play all around him, Stenson had plenty of fuel left to be able to sprint to the finish in 66 strokes and have a couple of gallons left.

For the week, Stenson was consistently excellent in all major categories but never really had to own any one in order to win.  Unlike the past several years in which greens in regulation told the story, it was a hybrid of being good all around that did it for Stenson.