After an entire morning and afternoon to recover from the Monday night Team Competition, players reconvened late Tuesday afternoon at the Tilted Kilt to prepare for the evening's Individual Championship. Players were greeted at the door by a collection of television reporters and video game industry press looking for interviews about the 2007 Worlds.

Prior to the official start of the tournament, players and guests enjoyed a fantastic reception put on by the host venue, the Tilted Kilt Pub. The highlight of the event was the official presentation of the Team Cup to Team USA Captain, Chris Eversole. Despite all of the controversy surrounding the event, Eversole was openly pleased to accept it after being the only Team USA captain to have lost the Cup in 2004. Eversole and all of the tournament competitors received commemorative team photos with gold or silver frames as a gift to memorialize the event.

As 6:00 PM rolled around the players prepared for what would become a long and memorable night of competitive Golden Tee. Each 16-man team was placed in a single-elimination bracket based on their scores from the one-round seeding qualifier held Monday afternoon. Andy Haas was the top American seed with his qualifying score of -28 on Indigo Mound, while Canadian, Eddy Nesdoly held the top spot on the World Team with his qualifying score of -27 on Glacier Ranch. Both Haas and Nesdoly won a set of Ben Hogan® BH-5 golf irons courtesy of TopFlite® for their efforts.

Round 1

The World Team got the action started and the round was dominated by the Canucks. Six of eight Canadians made it through with wins by Nesdoly, Glenn, Feijo, Goertz, Polidori and Keele. Two Canucks failed to make through - Derek Gibb who lost by one-stroke to his fellow countryman, Feijo, and Andrew Cosgrove who was once again bitten by the trees on #18 of Glacier Ranch. Round one was not good to Team UK or South Africa who failed to advance any of their six competitors. An opposite story came to fruition for the determined Australians Mark Sommer and Adam Williams. Both Aussies stunned the crowd with their amazing wins. It was a World Championship first!

On the American side of the bracket, it was rough going for the draft picks who had proven themselves to the world just one day before. Seven of the eight draft picks were eliminated, with the exception of Danny Beall who defeated fellow draftee, Jeff Hatfield of Knoxville, TN -21 to -18. Hatfield had made waves in the seeding round with his fourth best score, but was unable to pull off the magic against Wichita's best. Other draftees to run into the round one buzz saw were Justin Taylor, John Totura, David Burgess, Ryan Torkelson, Matt Keogh and Ramsey Thomas.

The most dramatic match of the round was between 2004 World Champion, Jeff Harlow and 2006 Western Shootout Champion, Chris Litzinger. After putting on a historic display of skill on Rustic Bridge, Litzinger edged Harlow -27 to -26 to advance.

All those with losses in the first round received $1,000 for their efforts.

Round 2

With the tournament field down to 16-players, both teams competed at the same time during round two. Of the eight remaining players on the World Team bracket, six hailed from the North, the other two from Down Under. Aussies Sommer and Williams were scripting an incredible Cinderella story that the Tilted Kilt crowd couldn't help but love, partially due to the team's spirited supporters. The American bracket saw some of the toughest match ups in Golden Tee history, including star players Eversole vs. Haas and recognizable Ohioans Litzinger vs. Liakakos.

What resulted in round two was, without a doubt, the most exciting round of competitive Golden Tee that has ever taken place. Five of the eight matches held went into sudden death playoffs at the exact same time - a feat that has never taken place at any Golden Tee Championship past. Hole outs, cheers of joy and sounds of frustration - the crowd went nuts following the action on the five plasmas televisions throughout the Kilt.

First on the World Team side, Eddy Nesdoly took down Tim Glenn after holing-out #2 of Moose Landing. On the machine directly next to them, fellow Canadian Nick Feijo was fighting off Aussie, Adam Williams tooth-and-nail to a –26 tie on Palm Springs. It took Williams 10 holes of sudden death to shake off Feijo and make Australian Golden Tee history by advancing to the semi-finals. Two more Canadian favorites, Polidori and Goertz, battled it out in sudden death to advance. Polidori was able to advance after an incredible drive on Rustic #1, which he eagled to win.

The action was just as incredible on the American side of things, most notably when Eversole came from behind to tie tournament favorite, Haas on Palm Springs. Haas carried a one-stroke lead on #18 and played safely in the fairway, forcing Eversole to execute a tough shot for the tie. The two-time champ nailed it, resulting in a surprising sudden death playoff. Ultimately, Haas clipped the tree attempting to drive #10 and Eversole sailed safely through for the win. An amazing upset!

If all this wasn't enough, Dean Liakakos caught up to Chris Litzinger on #18 of Palm Springs forcing another simultaneous playoff with their -25 tie. Liakakos holed-out #5 during sudden death for the huge upset over Litzinger.

The three matches that didn't require sudden death playoffs were just as dramatic. Rookie Aussie, Mark Sommer defeated World Championship veteran Keele -25 to -19 on Moose Landing, while Matt Estepp defeated Rod Critchlow -25 to -17 on Glacier Ranch. The last match between Graig Kinzler and Danny Beall came down to the wire, but "Dannyboy" was unable to top the former World Champion who won -26 to -24 on Rustic Bridge.

All those who failed to advance received $1,250 for their efforts.

Round 3

After the players and the crowd caught their breath, things settled in for another legendary round of Golden Tee Golf. While many eyes where on the highly anticipated match-up of former World Champions. Eversole and Kinzler, others were simply in awe of the spectacle of perfection that Team Australia was putting forth. Aussies, Sommer and Williams were both still alive and would have to face tough Canadians, Nesdoly, Polidori, to advance to the final bracket and guarantee an Australian in the run for the title. In addition five-time Team USA member and World Champion underdog, Dean Liakakos, was set to face 2006 Midwest Regional Champion, Matt Estepp.

Eversole and Kinzler put on a dazzling display, going through most of the back nine on Rustic Bridge neck-and-neck. It wasn't until #18 that the match was decided when Eversole put his tee-shot in the bunker. Kinzler advanced –27 to -25.

Kinzler's Chicago-area buddy, Estepp was battling a similar fight against Liakakos on Palm Springs. On #18 his drive trickled into the water, but Liakakos, after hitting the green, shockingly putted into the trap. After an even battle from the first tee, this mistake allowed Estepp to advance -22 to -20.

On the World Side, Aussie, Sommer finally ran out of steam, losing to Polidori -26 to -19. The same can't be said about his Aussie mate, Williams, who came back from an early deficit to defeat two-time Team Canada member, Nesdoly -25 to -22. The feat furthered Team Australia's record-breaking day.

Liakakos, Eversole, Sommer and Nesdoly each received $1,500 for their efforts.

World Team Final: Enzo Polidori Vs. Adam Williams

The international showdown between Polidori and Williams took place on Rustic Bridge. The duo stood tied through the first seven holes. It wasn't until hole #8 that Polidori took the lead when Williams found himself caught up in the trees. Despite a series of incredible chips by the determined Aussie, the one-stroke proved to be the difference for Polidori to win the match -26 to -25. Polidori's win advanced him to the World Championship finals for the second straight year.

Team USA Final: Graig Kinzler Vs. Matt Estepp

While their respect for each other runs deep, the Chicagoans were all business during this high stakes final match. Estepp topped Kinzler in the 2006 Midwest Regional Championship at Harrah's in Joliet, IL and Kinzler looked determine to turn around the results this time.

The duo rolled Indigo Mound as their course and Kinzler set the pace by holing-out #1 and #2, jumping out to an incredible two-stroke lead by the third hole! Things stayed the same through the front nine as both players put on an awesome display of video golf excellence. It wasn't until #14 that Kinzler gave Estepp a small opening after missing the green and giving Estepp back one stroke. Kinz made another slipup on #16 that forced him to settle with a birdie to Estepp's tying eagle.

#17 went just as well for Estepp as he was able to take the lead when Kinzler's ball clipped a tree. With one-stroke separating him from his old friend, Estepp found his tee shot missing the green and landing in the water, while Kinzler was able to follow-up with a perfect shot on the green. And with that, Graig Kinzler defeated Matt Estepp to advance to the World Championship finals for a second time in his illustrious Golden Tee career.

Matt Estepp and Adam Williams later played off on Glacier Ranch to settle third place. Estepp made an early mistake, resulting in an out of bounds penalty to give Williams an early one-stroke lead. Estepp earned his stroke back after the Aussie duffed a chip for eagle on #16. All tied up on the final hole, the Aussie clipped a tree after Estepp drove just off of the green. The virtual tree ended up costing the Aussie $1,000 as Matt Estepp took home third place and the $3,000 payday. Williams won $2,000 for fourth.

World Championship Final: Graig Kinzler Vs. Enzo Polidori

The last time Graig Kinzler found himself in the championship match, the Chicagoan was five years younger and inexperienced, yet the end result for him was a life-changing experience. He won the first World Championship title and rode a wave of Golden Tee stardom that has yet to be matched by any top player. But that was then and this was now - Kinzler found himself back on the big stage older, wiser and more determined to win than ever.

Alongside him stood Enzo Polidori - undeniably one of the best Golden Tee players in all of Canada. Polidori found himself in a similar situation against Chris Eversole in Orlando in November 2005 when he was able to win one match in the final but couldn’t get over the hump and had to settle for runner-up status. His determination got him back to the finals and he hoped this time his talent would thrust him to the top.

As in years past, the World Championship final was a best-of-three format, using sudden death playoffs to decide ties.

MATCH ONE

The team bracket champs rolled Glacier Ranch for their first course and the duo was tied through most of the front nine until Kinzler dropped his tee shot in the water on hole #9. At the turn, the Canadian was up one and it stayed that way until hole #17. Faced with a nasty set up, Kinzler nailed an astonishing double eagle hole-out from the fairway to tie going into the final hole of the first match. After both nailed the green, Polidori missed a tough 46-foot putt to give Kinzler his first win.

MATCH TWO

With the missed putt nagging him, Polidori refocused and stepped up to the trackball to tee-off on Rustic Bridge for what he hoped would not be his final round of the night. Kinzler was exuding determination and confidence as he teed-off on the first hole and the Tilted Kilt crowd could feel it in the air.

Kinzler jumped out to an early lead after Polidori just missed the green on hole #2 and later sunk an amazing chip on #6 to extend his lead to two-strokes over the Canadian. Polidori caught a break on hole #8 when Kinzler clipped a tree and gave up a crucial stroke to close the gap to one.

Everything changed on par-three tenth when Polidori nailed an amazing hole-in-one to tie the match. For the first time, "Iceman" Polidori pumped his fist and exploded with excitement as his ball plunked against the bottom of cup, bringing the crowd to its feet.

Things would remain the same until hole #16 when Polidori found himself stuck on a Central Park jogging path after Kinzler nailed a perfect eagle. Polidori's unfortunate drive would result in a missed chip and putt to give Kinzler a two-stroke advantage heading into the final holes.

A water ball off the 17th tee from the Canadian sealed the deal in the minds of the crowd, but Kinzler never wavered looking more focused and determined than ever to finish the round as the 2007 Golden Tee World Champion.

A deep breath and a calm, cool swing from Kinzler off the 18th tee started the cheers from the crowd - USA! USA! But before and celebration, Kinzler studied his eagle putt - a putt he's likely made hundreds of times - just to make sure that nothing would stand between him and his second title.

As the putt rolled toward the hole, the soon to be World Champion closed his eyes and pressed himself closely against the trackball, never seeing the ball drop in the cup and never caring.

He was overwhelmed with joy and emotion as his closest friends surrounded him to celebrate. Graig Kinzler is back on top for the first time since 2002.

Graig Kinzler is the 2007 Golden Tee World Champion!

"This is unbelievable," the two-time World Champion said. "It was sweet in 2002, but it's even better this time. My game was great then and I was winning a lot of events. I've been playing well lately, but haven't been winning live tournaments. To take the World Championship again means so much to me, it's hard to put it into words."

Congratulations Graig Kinzler and all of the 2007 World Championship Competitors!

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