Pam and Danielle Battle to the Finish

By BRIAN KORESSEL
Senior Producer, GolfChannel.com

Editor’s note: The Golf Channel’s “Big Break III – Ladies Only” is the third installment of this hit series. The 10 contestants are vying for entry into select LPGA tournaments, including the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill and the LPGA Corning Classic.
 
After nine weeks of physical and mental challenges, it was finally down to only Pam Crikelair and Danielle Amiee to battle it out on the final episode of The Big Break III. The two rivals had butted heads throughout the series and it was only fitting that they faced each other for the title.
 
And although the ultimate prize of the LPGA Tour exemptions was enough to get the competitive juices flowing, their disdain for each other was only adding to the drama. It was time to settle it over 18 holes of match play.
 

“I was excited, in the moment, about playing,” said Crikelair as they made their way to the tee box. “The first tee is always exciting.”
 
“I knew I had my work cut out for me today,” noted Amiee on the much-anticipated showdown. “It was not going to be an easy day.”
 
With that, both players striped their opening drives down the middle and the match was on. Crikelair then seemed to take immediate control of the match as her approach shot nestled up to within 9 feet of the cup. She missed the birdie putt however and they moved to the second hole all square.
 
At the second, both hit solid tee shots, and yet again Crikelair put the pressure on Danielle with another beautiful approach, this time coming to rest just 4 feet from the hole. Amiee’s lag putt came up woefully short and she couldn’t convert the par putt, leaving Pam an easy two putt to win the hole and move to 1-up.
 
“When she stepped up to the plate and hit that shot and stuck it from that far back, I said to my caddie, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’” said Amiee about Crikelair’s 4-iron approach.
 
Perhaps feeling the early pressure from Crikelair’s strong iron play, Danielle preceded to block her drive right and into a water hazard guarding the right side on the third hole. She was able to scramble to save bogey but Crikelair nailed a tough 4-footer to save putt and go 2-up through 3 holes.
 
After a relatively calm first three holes, the fireworks between Pam and Danielle finally rose to the surface at No. 4. Both had reached the green in regulation and Pam’s long birdie chance stopped a good 6 feet short, leaving Danielle a 10-footer to win the hole. Her stab at birdie missed on the amateur side and she walked up and tapped it in for par.
 
Pam, however, knew that in match play a player has to mark his or her ball unless the putt is conceded. She informed a somewhat bewildered Amiee to go back and mark her ball where it originally came to rest, perhaps a bit of gamesmanship at play. Crikelair then rolled in her testy par putt and picked up Danielle’s marker, conceding her par putt to stay 2-up through four.
 
“I was really surprised that Pam would make me replay that putt. She didn’t have any consideration or feelings for me or for the situation,” said Amiee on the pair’s first flare-up of the day. “But hey, it’s the rules of the game and you gotta live by them. It was my mistake and I’ll accept it.”