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Troubles on 18 cost Gove, Petrovic

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By Eric Page | Sunday, July 13, 2008 9:38 PM CDT | () comments

SILVIS, Ill. — Jeff Gove and Tim Petrovic, one right after the other, stood on the 18th tee Sunday afternoon at TPC Deere Run with a chance to secure a place near the top of leaderboard, possibly even climb into contention, at the John Deere Classic.

One right after the other, they squandered the opportunity.

Petrovic, sitting at 5-under for the day and minus-13 for the tournament, sent his drive into the deep rough behind the trees right of the fairway, spent three shots to get out of trouble and finished his weekend with a triple bogey.

Two groups later, Gove, at 5-under for the day and 14-down for the week, hit his second shot into the water and closed with a double.

“It’s just one of those things,” Petrovic said. “I got between a rock and a hard place, tried to get it out, and it took me about (three) to get it out. It was just a bad tee shot, just one of those things. What are you going to do?”

Petrovic finished tied for 18th. The triple on 18 cost him $68,000.

Gove was tied for ninth, his second consecutive top-10 at the JDC. His gaffe cost him only two spots on the leaderboard but more than $26,000 in winnings. Mostly he was hoping to close an otherwise solid round and tournament on a high note.

“I played really nice all week,” Gove said. “I hit two bad shots throughout the whole week. It cost me two doubles — 11 Friday and 18 (Sunday). Other than that, I played beautifully. If I’d putted a little better, this could have maybe been mine.”

The 41-year-old Petrovic, who has a pair of top-10 finishes this season, is headed for the British Open this week. Gove, 37, will play in Milwaukee.

“This gives me a lot of momentum,” Gove said. “I haven’t played a lot this year. I’m playing the next three weeks. I’ve got to look at the positives I did (Sunday) and this week and keep it going next week.”

Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.