Englishman's 414yd hit wins world long-drive title

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
Jamie Sadlowski, the two-time defending Re/Max World Long Drive champion, has been beaten in the semi-finals by England's Joe Miller, who went on to win the 2010 Re/Max in Mesquite, Nevada.
Sadlowski could only manage a 388yd drive in his semi-final with Miller, whose 396-yard drive knocked out the 22-year-old sensation from Alberta, Canada.

Miller, one of the top hitters in Europe, then went on to beat Domenic Mazza in the final with a 414yd smash that easily bested Mazza's 371-yard effort.

Sadlowski, whose relatively small size (5-11, 168 pounds) is rare in the sport, saw a few dangerous competitors fail to make the elite eight.

The quarter-finals featured neither Jason Zuback, a former amateur powerlifter from Alberta, Canada, who has won the title a record five times, nor Mike Dobbyn, a 6-8, 300lb mountain of a man who was the last person other than Sadlowski to win the Re/Max, in 2007.

That Sadlowski then failed to make the final two was perhaps the biggest shock of all. He is the youngest hitter to achieve stardom on the long-drive circuit, but he has maintained his titles are no sure thing.
Wind and temperature are huge factors in this event, which annually draws in excess of 10,000 competitors who attempt to qualify for the finals.
Temperatures were in the mid-70s with no wind.
The competition will air on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. ET USA on Christmas Day, and on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. on December 26.