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Looking at the sweaty 47-year-old behind a podium Saturday evening at Atlanta Athletic Club, a man who was pleased but weary, my thoughts retreated to a cold fall day a quarter century ago in Stillwater, Okla.

Scott Verplank was a senior at Oklahoma State, out playing an afternoon round with his Cowboy teammates. The worse the weather, the better time to practice, as far as former OSU men's golf coach Mike Holder was concerned.
 
Tough weather didn't much phase Verplank, because he was tough, too. Having dealt with Type I Diabetes since he was a boy, flighting a 2-iron under the wind on a 45-degree November day was just something you did, part of the mindset and talent that made him the best amateur in the world.

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Related Topics: golf, PGA Championship 2011