His slow play caused the final group to be put on the clock. However, he did shoot a 1-under 69 in sweltering heat to win the US Bank Championship by four strokes over Scott Verplank on Sunday. "I wish I could flip a switch and be fast, but it doesn't work that way," Crane said after his second career tour victory. "I think it's a process and I think over the next few months I'll get better."
That won't be soon enough for Verplank, who slogged his way to a 71. "Unfortunately, I probably thought about it a little bit and that's my fault, but we were on the clock the whole back nine," Verplank said. "It's kind of a nuisance to be on the clock. But I kind of expected it, too." Crane said he felt bad for Verplank.
"It stinks for Scott. Its unfortunate but its the way it happens. I feel terrible about it but I try not to change my routine. I don't feel I was too far off (the pace)." But he was way ahead of the field, finishing at 20-under 260.
Chad Campbell (65) finished five shots back in third, and two-time winner Jeff Sluman (68) was fourth at 14 under. Crane, whose lead never dipped below three strokes on Sunday, is only the second start-to-finish winner in Milwaukee, joining Ed Snead, who did it in 1974 at Tuckaway Country Club.
Yet, he provided an agonizingly slow finish to a tournament that was delayed nearly 10 hours by bad weather. "It's a good thing he's a great guy because if he wasn't he would probably have a lot of trouble with all the players," Verplank suggested.
"It's just golf is a gentlemen's game about etiquette and how to act and how to respect your playing partners and the game. And ... one of the things of respecting everybody else on the field is not holding everybody up."
Still, Verplank took full blame for letting the plodding pace get to him. "If that bothered me, that's my fault," he said. "It's not his." And Verplank said he knows Crane is trying his best.
"He's just very fidgety. He stands over the ball and bobs and weaves and swivels around a lot, you know?" Verplank said. "I think I'd probably pass out." Crane, whose only other U.S. PGA Tour win came at the 2003 BellSouth Classic, is the fourth golfer this year to put his name atop the leaderboard in all four rounds of a tournament, joining Phil Mickelson (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am), Justin Leonard (FedEx St. Jude Classic) and Tiger Woods (British Open).
After enduring a stormy three days that included three rain delays, two course evacuations and a suspension on account of darkness, the golfers slogged through a hot, humid final day at Brown Deer Park, where the heat index hovered around 105 degrees F (40 C).
The greens were soft and sticky but the winds kept golfers from getting too close to Crane, who didn't mind the soggy course or the sparse crowds. His three-day total of 19-under 191 was the best 54-hole start on tour this year and just one stroke shy of the tournament record set by Sluman in 2002. It was his first 54-hole lead on tour, and his two-stroke advantage over Verplank quickly doubled when Verplank bogeyed No. 1 and Crane birdied No. 2.
Crane holed out from 19 yards from the first rough on No. 6 for an eagle to go to 21 under, and even though he bogeyed the next hole, he made the turn with a four-shot lead over Verplank, who, like the rest of the field, never mounted a serious charge.
Verplank was hoping to snap his streak of 96 tournaments without a win. "I just didn't play good enough," said Verplank, whose last win came in the 2001 Bell Canadian Open. "I just never found the rhythm. The wind and the playing conditions made it that way and certain challenges of playing in the last group made it tough, too."
Verplank said it might ultimately take a hefty fine from the PGA Tour to cure Crane of his slowpoke style.
Crane would certainly have the wherewithal to pony up the $20,000 (?16,470) citation for repeated infractions: He pocketed a $684,000 (?563,200) eck for his snail-slow victory on Sunday.
By Stretch Wild
That won't be soon enough for Verplank, who slogged his way to a 71. "Unfortunately, I probably thought about it a little bit and that's my fault, but we were on the clock the whole back nine," Verplank said. "It's kind of a nuisance to be on the clock. But I kind of expected it, too." Crane said he felt bad for Verplank.
"It stinks for Scott. Its unfortunate but its the way it happens. I feel terrible about it but I try not to change my routine. I don't feel I was too far off (the pace)." But he was way ahead of the field, finishing at 20-under 260.
Chad Campbell (65) finished five shots back in third, and two-time winner Jeff Sluman (68) was fourth at 14 under. Crane, whose lead never dipped below three strokes on Sunday, is only the second start-to-finish winner in Milwaukee, joining Ed Snead, who did it in 1974 at Tuckaway Country Club.
Yet, he provided an agonizingly slow finish to a tournament that was delayed nearly 10 hours by bad weather. "It's a good thing he's a great guy because if he wasn't he would probably have a lot of trouble with all the players," Verplank suggested.
"It's just golf is a gentlemen's game about etiquette and how to act and how to respect your playing partners and the game. And ... one of the things of respecting everybody else on the field is not holding everybody up."
Still, Verplank took full blame for letting the plodding pace get to him. "If that bothered me, that's my fault," he said. "It's not his." And Verplank said he knows Crane is trying his best.
"He's just very fidgety. He stands over the ball and bobs and weaves and swivels around a lot, you know?" Verplank said. "I think I'd probably pass out." Crane, whose only other U.S. PGA Tour win came at the 2003 BellSouth Classic, is the fourth golfer this year to put his name atop the leaderboard in all four rounds of a tournament, joining Phil Mickelson (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am), Justin Leonard (FedEx St. Jude Classic) and Tiger Woods (British Open).
After enduring a stormy three days that included three rain delays, two course evacuations and a suspension on account of darkness, the golfers slogged through a hot, humid final day at Brown Deer Park, where the heat index hovered around 105 degrees F (40 C).
The greens were soft and sticky but the winds kept golfers from getting too close to Crane, who didn't mind the soggy course or the sparse crowds. His three-day total of 19-under 191 was the best 54-hole start on tour this year and just one stroke shy of the tournament record set by Sluman in 2002. It was his first 54-hole lead on tour, and his two-stroke advantage over Verplank quickly doubled when Verplank bogeyed No. 1 and Crane birdied No. 2.
Crane holed out from 19 yards from the first rough on No. 6 for an eagle to go to 21 under, and even though he bogeyed the next hole, he made the turn with a four-shot lead over Verplank, who, like the rest of the field, never mounted a serious charge.
Verplank was hoping to snap his streak of 96 tournaments without a win. "I just didn't play good enough," said Verplank, whose last win came in the 2001 Bell Canadian Open. "I just never found the rhythm. The wind and the playing conditions made it that way and certain challenges of playing in the last group made it tough, too."
Verplank said it might ultimately take a hefty fine from the PGA Tour to cure Crane of his slowpoke style.
Crane would certainly have the wherewithal to pony up the $20,000 (?16,470) citation for repeated infractions: He pocketed a $684,000 (?563,200) eck for his snail-slow victory on Sunday.
By Stretch Wild
