He’d come out on top after one of the tensest finishes in PGA Tour history. He could hardly speak to the on-course interviewer afterwards, his face drenched with sweat and tears. When Lowery’s birdie effort narrowly missed, Beem broke down. A birdie would give Lowery the win a par and Beem would take the title. There was a distinct possibility a victory he had earned with a closing 63 might be snatched from him by a freak finish. As Rich stood beside the 18th green he was visibly agitated as Lowery came up the home hole. Lowery then proceeded to hole his second for an albatross two on the 17th and cut Beem’s lead to just one.

Beem heard the roar and struck back by holing a long putt for an eagle of his own on the 17th. In The International tournament, played to a modified Stableford format, Beem looked set to record his second PGA Tour victory – eight points ahead through 16 holes of the final round.īut Steve Lowery holed his second to the 15th for an eagle to reduce Rich’s advantage to three points. And what if he hadn’t? Who knows, back to selling phones or golf balls perhaps? As Lee Trevino once famously said, “real pressure is playing a match for $5 when you only have $2 in your pocket.” Into 2002īuoyed by the resilience he displayed in late 2001, Beem knuckled down and enjoyed some good results in the first part of 2002 – a fourth and a second place being the best of them. Battling tremendous nerves, he held on in the final round to secure gainful employment for 2002. He fought his way into a position where he had a chance. By the end of 2001 he was in danger of losing his card and he needed a top-10 finish at the Michelob Championship to keep it.

He missed eight cuts through the rest of 1999 and 16 cuts in 29 events through 2000. A low point came when he was caught driving over the limit at 2.00AM while over in the UK for The Open Championship. He was already known for taking a fairly colourful approach to his off-course lifestyle, but the extra fame (and cash) provided by the win allowed him to hit it rather hard for a while. The victory secured his card for two seasons but it made him complacent. In his first season on the circuit, Beem came from nowhere to win the Kemper Open – it was a blessing and a curse.

Beem it credit card