May 29, 2009

MARYSVILLE, OH — For the first time in 6 seasons, Jason Ridgeway has quit. The scratch handicap hit his last shot outside Darby Creek's clubhouse at the 17th hole before deciding to quit and leave the grounds. Ridgeway, who was 8-over thru 16 holes left with little comment able to print.

Coincidentally, Ridgeway played with long-time friend Jeff Miller, which were tied going into the 17th hole. Miller's public long-term goal has been to beat Jason once.

"A quitter," says Jeff Miller. "Jason is a great player, but I had the boy right where I wanted him. I was ready to stick the dagger in at the 17th green too. I was already imagining 'Jeff beats Ridgeway' on the front page of the Spackler website."

Miller added, "We spent almost 2 minutes a hole looking for his ProV1's.  Maybe that's why the ranger had to ask us to speed up at the turn."

Jay Glover of Virginia Beach says, "I am tired of all the flack that I get about scorecards. Ridgeway is a reverse sandbagger! I hope he wears an outfit for two in a couple of weeks."

Perhaps it was the extremely beautiful weather on Monday that distracted him. Maybe his mind was cluttered by the personal goals to win his first Golden Jacket. Someone even suggested that he would have been better off hitting the range than embarrassing the Carl Spackler Open with an 8-over 80 through 16 holes.

Ridgeway started to fall apart at the 12th hole when he chunked his second shot and took bogey. He proceeded to the 13th hole where he hit the green in regulation and 3-putted from 20 feet. He pulled his tee shot in the greenside bunker at the par 3 16th hole for another club-throwing bogey.

"When you don't execute, you're not going to be happy either way," Ridgeway said days later. "Poor execution is never going to feel very good. It was a disaster out there and hated every minute."

The last shot came at the 17th tee. He pushed his drive right of the bunkers and somehow lost the ball. Rather than hit 4 as documented in Spackler rules, he also chose not to return 300 yards to the tee box and rehit. He quit. Jason did caddy for the rest of the group and took the pin out on the next two holes.

A reporter braved the possible response and asked Jason, "Tell us what your emotional state was at the 17th when your ball could not be found." Ridgeway said, "Pissed! That pretty much sums it up right there. I thought I was playing well enough to shoot an under par round Monday, and I didn’t do that. I am not ready for a major championship either."

Ridgeway continues to hold 12th position in the 2009 Virtual Tournament with 60.8 points per round and a -0.4 stroke handicap. The 'reverse sandbagger' will return to the practice range for Open preparations.