Blixt Doesn't Blink on His Way to the Greenbrier Classic Win

Blixt did not blink.  

Twenty-nine-year-old Swede Jonas Blixt never let the crowded leaderboard affect his play on his way to a two-shot win at the 2013 Greenbrier Classic.  He never let the wet conditions and the impending darkness get into his mind.  And just before he hoisted the tournament's championship trophy, he said, according to SkySports, "It has been a bad year for me but I just pulled it off. "I can't believe it. I'm just really happy."

Blixt apparently means lightning bolt in Swedish.

The players had to avoid the human lightning bolt as well as Mother Nature's lightning bolts, which caused a three-hour delay in the final round.  Ironically, the weather delay happened at the time of Blixt's 1:50 p.m. tee time.  As the impending sunlight faded into the Allegheny Mountains, Blixt used a precision iron game and clutch putting to vault to his second PGA Tour win and a 2014 ticket to Magnolia Lane and Augusta National for the Masters.

The cross-handed-putting Swede ushered his birdie putt on the 72nd hole up over the lower-tiered crest to tap-in range.  His pursuers never challenged the hard-charging Blixt, who managed five final-round birdies and two bogeys to close with a three-under-par 67 and the victory.

The birdies for the leaders never materialized on the back nine. Johnson Wagner, Jimmy Walker, Steven Bowditch and Matt Jones all bowed to Blixt.  Of the pursuers, Jones was the only player to birdie any of the final three holes to put pressure on Blixt.

The horn sounded at 1:50 p.m.  Play resumed around 5:00 p.m., and all the players seemed determined to finish the round.

Blixt stayed aggressive on the wet Old White TPC greens while other players stumbled.  His two-shot win over Wagner, Walker, Bowditch and Jones gives the Greenbrier Classic another notch in its belt as a proving ground for the young players on the PGA Tour.  First-time winners Scott Stalling (2011) and Ted Potter, Jr. (2012) and now Blixt give the event a growing reputation as a launching pad for the young guns on the PGA Tour in just its fourth year of existence.