Tim Burke wins 2nd World Long Drive title in three years
Tim Burke won his second World Long Drive Championship title in three years on Wednesday night, defeating Jeremy Easterly with a 394-yard drive in the final match to take the title.
Burke had to win three matches during the nighttime event on a special setup at Winstar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Okla., first dispatching of Justin Young with a 401-yard drive in the quarterfinals before going two yards longer in the semis to beat Will Hogue. Burke's longest drives in both rounds came with his first swing, essentially leaving what was remaining of the 2 minutes, 45 seconds each player was allotted per match to serve as a cool-down-slash-exhibition.
Easterly, a 10-seed in what began as a 64-man, match-play competition, was the unlikely final opponent for Burke, who was expecting to face two-time world champion Jamie Sadlowski. However, the Canadian failed to advance to the final match when he was unable to find the 60-yard-wide grid with a drive in his semifinal match against Easterly in the allotted time. With one final ball to trump Easterly's 380-yard benchmark-setting drive, Sadlowski couldn't find the mark.
“It’s hard," Sadlowski said. "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.”
The 38-year-old Easterly accounted himself well in the final, pounding a 386-yard drive. However, limited by his swing speed and ball flight, Easterly knew even his best may not have been enough to get Burke.
“He’s a great competitor, you’ve got to give him everything you got and it still may not be enough," said Easterly. “I hit a good ball, not a great ball, but he’s got a lot of horsepower and he can put a good number up.”
The 29-year-old Orlando native won the 2013 competition, which played out on a unique stage at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His final-round drive of 427 yards is the longest ever recorded in the last stage of a World Long Drive Championship. However, he found himself quickly eliminated in his 2014 title defense. That was all the motivation he needed to, as he said, get his world title belt back and walk away with the $150,000 first-place prize.
“I got dedicated this year," Burke said, "got a little better golf swing, learned how to handle the pressure a little better and everything came together tonight."
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
