Tim Burke Wins World Long Drive Championship
The saying in golf has always been, “drive for show and putt for dough.” On Wednesday night, it was the driving that made the dough as the longest hitters in the golf world convened in Oklahoma in the World Long Drive Championship.
A familiar face walked away with the $150,000 first place prize, as Tim Burke won his second Long Drive title in the past three years, defeating Jeremy Easterly with his final round drive of 394 yards.
“I just wanted to make sure I put a good golf swing on it … and I hit it pretty good,” Burke said. “I got dedicated this year, got a little better golf swing, learned how to handle the pressure a little better and everything came together tonight.”
Burke made easy work of his opponents in the quarter and semifinals bombing drives of 401 and 403 yards respectively. For Easterly, just the fact that he made it to the championship round felt like a win for him since he got through two time winner Jamie Sadlowski to get to the finals in the first place.
Sadlowski couldn’t hit the grid and Easterly advanced with his 380 yard drive.
“It hurts a little bit when you beat yourself and not hit a good shot in, but that’s life,” Sadlowski said. “It’s hard. Maybe I took those first two world championships for granted, maybe I didn’t enjoy them enough to realize how hard this is. Falling short, it hurts.”
Now that Burke has win #2, he has his eyes set on win #3 next year.
“I was definitely hungry to get No. 2 after last year. I just worked really hard this year. I feel blessed and I’m just going to keep it rolling,” Burke said while surrounded by friends and family on stage. “I’m in an elite club and I’d like to get Nos. 3, 4 and 5.”
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About Dan Hauser
As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.