Overton recounts putt of a lifetime

A whole summer of work seemed to be crashing down as former IU golfer Jeff Overton stood on the fourth tee in the final pairing of the Walker Cup. Welsh golfer Nigel Edwards had stormed out of the gate to take the first three holes from Overton. Spotting three holes to a three-time Walker Cup verteran, 15 years his senior, put Overton in a seeminly inescapable corner.\nOverton recounts how, after halving the fourth hole, he stole a stroke back with a birdie on the sixth. Overton used his first birdie as fuel for the rest of the match, winning five of the next 10 holes to take a two-hole lead on the 14th. An Edwards birdie on the 15th cut Overton's lead to one. With everyone else waiting in the clubhouse, both players knew the fate of the Walker Cup rested on their final three holes.\nStill tied entering hole 17, Overton's drive found a burried lie in the rough. With little chance of making birdie, Overton said he knew he had to save par to stay ahead.\nHis second shot landed by the green, where Overton described how he made a difficult up and down to save par. Edwards also carded par on the hole, which meant the entire Cup would come down to the final hole.\n"Jeff is a competitor," USA Captain Bob Lewis said in a press conference after the Cup. "He's a great putter. He's got a great short game. You know what, that's what we needed at the end, and that's why (he) was back there."\nOverton and Edwards both reached the par-4 18th in two shots, leaving one thought in\nOverton's head.\n"I told Captain Lewis that I wanted Edwards to hit his 35-foot putt so I could drop (my putt) on him to win the Cup," Overton said. "He told me I should want him to miss, and to focus on hitting the best lag putt I've ever hit."\nOnce Edwards' putt slid past the hole, Lewis again tried to settle Overton down. Overton responded by rolling the ball within inches from the hole. \nAfter an innocent tap-in par, the celebration was on. IU's native son had returned the Walker Cup back to the United States after more than three years.\n"Captain Lewis told me he knew I wanted to make the putt, but I should just hit the lag putt for our country," Overton said.\nAfter ending his collegiate golfing career by capturing the Big Ten Championship, Overton wrapped up his amateur career by clinching the Walker Cup for Team USA Sunday, Aug. 14 at the Chicago Golf Club. The Walker Cup is a team competition that matches up the best amateur golfers from the United States against the best amateurs from Great Britain and Ireland.\nWhile many senior collegiate golfers spent their summers beginning their professional careers, Overton and fellow recent college graduates Michael Putnam, John Holmes, Nick Thompson and Lee Williams dedicated the summer to returning the Walker Cup to the United States.\nThe Walker Cup victory ended an accomplished amateur career for Overton, who won back to back Indiana Amateur titles and last summer made the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur before falling to eventual champion Ryan Moore of University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Overton has also represented the United States at the Fiji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Cup and in the Porter Cup earlier this summer. The Walker Cup provided Overton with additional experience to smooth the transition to the professional level.\n"The competition level was very high this week," Overton said. "Playing in front of such large galleries is something I am going to face in the next level."\nOverton could not celebrate for long because the organizers of the Buick Championship offered him a sponsor's exemption to play in the Professional Golf Association event. Overton does not have a PGA Tour card, so he can only participate in events this season through qualifying or receiving exemptions.\nOverton had a rough start to his professional career, carding a seven-over-par 77. \nThe next day he played better golf and scored a two-under 68. His 36 hole total of 145 was five strokes below the cut line of even par 140. Although he did not advance to the weekend, Overton looked at his first pro event as a learning experience.\n"I did not know what to expect going into the tournament," Overton said. "Now I know there is no difference in playing out there."\nOverton will spend the rest of the golf season trying to qualify for other events and exemptions. He plans to try to qualify for the PGA Tour this winter at the PGA Qualifying School and try to make his name known at the top level of golf in the world.\nRegardless of how his push for a PGA Tour card pans out this year, he'll always have one weekend in August to look back upon.\n"This was the most unbelievable experience -- it's not describable," Overton said. "Its something you dream about"