She had just finished packing the car -- everything but her husband and his golf clubs -- when an old friend walked up.
"Don't you come over here,'' Sonya Toms said. "You're going to make me cry.''
And she did. Just a little.
A few minutes later, caddie Scott Gneiser's eyes welled up a bit too.
If only they had laid up at the 16th...If only that putt at 17 had gone in...If...
This one wasn't just about a tournament lost. This was about family. About a moment that doesn't come around too often when you're 44. A moment that would have redefined David Toms' career. An afternoon that would have given 13-year-old Carter a father-and-son moment -- a family moment -- beyond compare.
Instead it was a time to reflect, to give out hugs. To talk about how the son was inspiring the dad; about how in losing, you also win; about taking the momentum from this week to Fort Worth next week and Colonial Country Club, which just happens to be one of Toms' favorite courses.
"If I can go in there and take some of the things I did this week, maybe get back in the hunt, maybe I'll feel more comfortable the next time and do better,'' Toms said.
For most of this perfect sun-splashed Sunday afternoon, THE PLAYERS Championship was there for Toms to take. A coulda, woulda, shoulda if you will. A moment that would erase all those years when he hadn't been in the mix and all those missed cuts here. He knew it. He could feel it.
He just couldn't pull it off. One mistake at 16 when he got ahead of himself, followed by an all-world birdie out of a divot at 18 to force a playoff. Then one momentary lapse on a clean-up par on the playoff hole.
That was all K.J. Choi needed. He tapped in for par and a win at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Toms shook his head.
"I thought I made the first one, and I hit a great tee shot,'' he said. "It was just a couple feet away from just going right down to the hole, and I just wasn't there on the putt.
"I was probably thinking ahead and thinking about the next hole, and I just got up there and missed it.''
A few minutes earlier, he had buried a 17-footer to tie and the crowd had gone crazy. Choi had missed the green and had to scramble for par.
"We were walking up to the green, and I had already had a small victory by hitting the shot I did out of the divot in the fairway, and K.J. had hit his chip and I knew he was going to have to I don't know,'' Toms said. "What was that, five or six feet that he had to make his? So I figured even if I don't make it I still have a chance that he might miss to get in a playoff.
"Then my caddie said let's give them something to cheer about, and it was a right edge putt, kind of downhill, just one of those kind you've got to get rolling. It was the best putt I've had in an awful long time. And to see it track the whole way knowing it was in about with five or six feet to go, it was a great feeling. It's something I can take away from this week to be able to make a putt like that when I have to.''
If he only had made that 18 footer in the playoff...
Ten years removed from his PGA Championship win at Atlanta Athletic Club -- in fact he won three times that year -- Toms is working his way back to the top.
His shoulder is healthy and he came into the week with a pair of 2011 top-5s -- a tie for third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard a tie for fifth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic -- in his hip pocket. His love for the game has come back, mostly because he's enjoying the heck out of playing it, and sharing it, with Carter.
"It's a lot of fun,'' Toms said. "It's so funny, when I'm picking out my outfit for the next day, he's picking out his outfit for the next day. It's funny. Those young kids are looking up to the young guys out here on TOUR, and he follows it all the time. I mean, it's on his phone, it's on his computer, and he's watching The Golf Channel all the time.
"It's kind of neat to see, though. When I was really winning a lot of tournaments, he knew about golf and he was around some, but he didn't play it and wasn't into it. But now he is. It would have been nice to win today for him.
"He had one of his little friends there and they were following me every step of the way. Disappointed because of that, but he can take a lot of stuff away from this week. Watching his dad out there playing and seeing me under pressure, you know, it's neat. Because if I were to make a bogey or hit a bad shot, you look over and you see him in the crowd and just kind of put a smile on your face and puts it all into perspective.''
Carter used to dabble in golf, but back then his real love was baseball. And he was good. But now he's a budding star in his dad's chosen game and both mom and dad are enjoying it.
"We were on the back porch for four or five hours yesterday watching it rain, and (Matteo) Manassero was out there and he was talking to my son and his friend,'' Toms said. "And they're only four or five years apart, and the guy is playing this golf tournament. He can relate to me a lot better than he can my son can relate to that guy a lot better. I'm just his dad, you know, that plays golf.
"He's watching Rickie Fowler and all these young guys and trying to dress like them and act like them and play golf like them. And that's fine. I mean, I think that's a neat part about growing up on the PGA TOUR, kids that are out here. They get to see a lot of go a lot of neat places, see a lot of great courses, meet a lot of famous people, and there's a lot of good role models out here for them.''
Like his dad.
Toms didn't mince words. He admitted he was a little nervous at times Sunday, something you'd expect since his last win was the 2006 Sony Open. Even with a dozen PGA TOUR wins, that major and three Ryder Cup and three Presidents Cup teams on his resume' it's been a while since he was this close to a win.
"I was very happy with the way I held up the last, well, 31 holes I played today, I guess,'' Toms said. "You know, with the lead or around the lead the whole time, I mean, it's tough when you haven't been there in a while and when you haven't played this golf course well.
"So I just, you know, I just kept plugging along, plugging along and made a couple mistakes towards the end, but making that putt on 18 when I had to, you know, that just shows that I can still do it when I need to.
"I got nervous a few times out there. I got ahead of myself on 16 in regulation. Seeing K.J. had to lay up already I probably should have laid up and hit a wedge up there and made par at the worst, but I felt like I could get it on the green and take maybe a two shot lead there and put a lot of pressure on him. So that was the mindset, and I just hit a bad shot."
Carter saw it all. He took it in. He learned from he saw. And when Toms walked to the car, he was there with a smile, helping load the last of the things in the car.
A few minutes earlier, Toms had talked about working his way back to the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cups -- "Man, you know, every year that they have one that I am not on, I know what I'm missing,'' -- and reminding everyone that one Sunday wasn't going to change his lie.
"Like I said, if I would have won this tournament, it doesn't change my life in any way,'' he said. "Maybe a little more confidence going forward, but that's it. It doesn't really change anything. Maybe exempts me to the Champions Tour, but other than that, no big deal.'
That drew a laugh.
But seriously, he said, the day was a blur -- the way it is when you get in a zone. He felt comfortable and in control.
And, yes, he wanted the win for Carter, more than anything.
"You know, and the interesting thing, the look on his face (when Toms missed the putt) was probably like, hey, his dad was leading all day long and then all of a sudden he didn't win,'' Toms said.
"But he understands. That gives me more incentive to get back and do it here soon."
Just maybe next week.
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