CASEY WITTENBERG WINS ON NATIONWIDE TOUR BY EIGHT SHOTS
FROM THE US NATIONWIDE TOUR WEBSITE
By Joe Chemycz, Nationwide Tour staff
BROUSSARD, La. -- Casey Wittenberg capped off a nearly flawless week with 6-under 65 Sunday to win the Chitimacha Louisiana Open by a tournament-record eight strokes. Wittenberg started the final day with a four-shot lead and steadily stretched it out as the day went on and matched the fourth-largest victory margin in Nationwide Tour history.
The 27-year-old from Memphis set a tournament record with his 260 total of 24 under and earned $90,000 for his first Tour win.
"It's a great feeling," said Wittenberg, who was runner-up at the 2003 U.S. Amateur to Nick Flanagan. "I've put a lot of hard work into my game. I've probably underachieved to where I thought I might be at this point in my life but golf's a humbling game. It's a tough sport and you have to cherish these weeks when you play good."
Wittenberg didn't play good, he was great. The former Oklahoma State standout had a pair of eagles, 22 birdies and just two bogeys in 72 holes and both of those were three-putts. He played the final 48 holes without a bogey.
"I really putted great the last three days," he said.
Fabian Gomez, Chris Riley and Paul Claxton tied for second at 16-under 268. Brad Fritsch, Woody Austin, Rob Oppenheim and Camilo Benedetti shared fifth place, nine shots back.
Sunday's finale turned out to be a walk in the park for Wittenberg, who opened with a birdie at No. 1 and kept the field at arm's length all afternoon.
"Fortunately nobody really came after me today," he said. "I figured the field pace was probably going to be 4-under so I thought if I could shoot 5-under then somebody else was going to have shoot 9-under to catch me. I didn't know if that was possible."
It wasn't. Wittenberg's closest challengers failed to gain any ground on him as he drove it down the middle -- he was a perfect 13 of 13 off the tee -- and missed only four greens.
"I lost one out here a couple years ago with a lead and a couple holes to play," he said, recalling a playoff loss to Justin Hicks at the 2008 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. ""Weird things can happen out here. I tried to play aggressive but smart golf. We just got in our bubble and did our thing."
Wittenberg put on an exhibition in the last round, canning every significant putt he faced. With Chris Riley putting pressure on the leader, Wittenberg rolled in a 55-foot birdie putt at No. 9 from the back fringe, saved par from 8 feet at No. 10 and added another birdie from 12 feet at No. 11, essentially putting the tournament out of reach.
"I tried to believe in myself today," said Wittenberg, who moves to No. 4 on the money list. "I've been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time around a lot of great players like Anthony Kim and Ivan Lendl and those guys are known for being able to close the deal. That's what I wanted to accomplish today."
• Sunday's weather: Sunny. Winds NW 5-10 mph. High of 83.
• Wittenberg's 8-stroke margin of victory ties the fourth largest in Nationwide Tour history
+Scotland's Florida-based Russell Knox, stepping down from the US PGA Tour for the week, earned $2,450 for a T38 finish with scores of 68, 68, 69 and 71 for eight-under 276.
TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZE MONEY
CLICK HERE
By Joe Chemycz, Nationwide Tour staff
BROUSSARD, La. -- Casey Wittenberg capped off a nearly flawless week with 6-under 65 Sunday to win the Chitimacha Louisiana Open by a tournament-record eight strokes. Wittenberg started the final day with a four-shot lead and steadily stretched it out as the day went on and matched the fourth-largest victory margin in Nationwide Tour history.
The 27-year-old from Memphis set a tournament record with his 260 total of 24 under and earned $90,000 for his first Tour win.
"It's a great feeling," said Wittenberg, who was runner-up at the 2003 U.S. Amateur to Nick Flanagan. "I've put a lot of hard work into my game. I've probably underachieved to where I thought I might be at this point in my life but golf's a humbling game. It's a tough sport and you have to cherish these weeks when you play good."
Wittenberg didn't play good, he was great. The former Oklahoma State standout had a pair of eagles, 22 birdies and just two bogeys in 72 holes and both of those were three-putts. He played the final 48 holes without a bogey.
"I really putted great the last three days," he said.
Fabian Gomez, Chris Riley and Paul Claxton tied for second at 16-under 268. Brad Fritsch, Woody Austin, Rob Oppenheim and Camilo Benedetti shared fifth place, nine shots back.
Sunday's finale turned out to be a walk in the park for Wittenberg, who opened with a birdie at No. 1 and kept the field at arm's length all afternoon.
"Fortunately nobody really came after me today," he said. "I figured the field pace was probably going to be 4-under so I thought if I could shoot 5-under then somebody else was going to have shoot 9-under to catch me. I didn't know if that was possible."
It wasn't. Wittenberg's closest challengers failed to gain any ground on him as he drove it down the middle -- he was a perfect 13 of 13 off the tee -- and missed only four greens.
"I lost one out here a couple years ago with a lead and a couple holes to play," he said, recalling a playoff loss to Justin Hicks at the 2008 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. ""Weird things can happen out here. I tried to play aggressive but smart golf. We just got in our bubble and did our thing."
Wittenberg put on an exhibition in the last round, canning every significant putt he faced. With Chris Riley putting pressure on the leader, Wittenberg rolled in a 55-foot birdie putt at No. 9 from the back fringe, saved par from 8 feet at No. 10 and added another birdie from 12 feet at No. 11, essentially putting the tournament out of reach.
"I tried to believe in myself today," said Wittenberg, who moves to No. 4 on the money list. "I've been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time around a lot of great players like Anthony Kim and Ivan Lendl and those guys are known for being able to close the deal. That's what I wanted to accomplish today."
• Sunday's weather: Sunny. Winds NW 5-10 mph. High of 83.
• Wittenberg's 8-stroke margin of victory ties the fourth largest in Nationwide Tour history
+Scotland's Florida-based Russell Knox, stepping down from the US PGA Tour for the week, earned $2,450 for a T38 finish with scores of 68, 68, 69 and 71 for eight-under 276.
TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZE MONEY
CLICK HERE
Labels: NATIONWIDE TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Monday, March 26, 2012
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