BACK-TO-BACK WINS FOR PUTNAM ON THE WEB.COM TOUR
FROM THE US WEB.COM TOUR WEBSITE
POTOMAC, Maryland -- Michael Putnam staked himself to a big lead early in the final round of the Mid-Atlantic Championship and then coasted to victory for the second straight week on the Web.com Tour.
POTOMAC, Maryland -- Michael Putnam staked himself to a big lead early in the final round of the Mid-Atlantic Championship and then coasted to victory for the second straight week on the Web.com Tour.
Putnam, who turned 30 on Saturday,
shot a 2-under 68 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm and finished with a
7-under 273 total, two shots better than rookie Chesson Hadley (67).
Bronson La’Cassie (67), Daniel Chopra (70) and Chad Collins (72) wound up at 3-under 277 and four off the pace.
Peter Tomasulo (65), Alex Prugh (68), Scott Dunlap (71) and Sung Kang (73) shared sixth place at 1 under.
Putnam, winner of last week’s Mexico Open, picked up a check for $108,000 and increased his hold on the top spot of the Tour’s money list. His season total of $354,234 puts him more than $132,000 in front of No. 2 Edward Loar.
“It’s the second week in a row and I can’t get used to it enough,” Putnam told the crowd at the trophy presentation.
The former Pepperdine All-American started the final round at 5 under and tied for the lead with playing partners Collins and Kang. Three birdie putts of 15, 10 and 12 feet on his first six holes separated Putnam from the pack.
“To pull away from the field early was big, especially with the windy conditions and knowing it was going to be a tough day,” Putnam said. “It was going to be tough to make any birdies today and to start off with three cemented the lead for a good while.”
Putnam got ahead of himself when he was up by four and staring at a 4-foot birdie putt at No. 8, which would have stretched his lead to five strokes.
“My mind started racing thinking about my family and what I was going to do with the win and a bunch of other stuff,” he said. “Then I missed it. I knew there were a bunch of tough holes ahead and I caught myself. I tried not to exhale the rest of the back nine.”
With his lead at four and the TPC course showing its teeth once again – the four-day scoring average for the par-70 layout was 72.631 – Putnam took his foot off the gas pedal.
“If you get aggressive on this golf course it’s real easy to make bogeys. There are penalties everywhere,” he said. “I was aiming towards the middle of the greens having 20 footers for birdie.”
Putnam didn’t make many but then neither did anyone else. The only one applying any pressure was Hadley, who closed to within two a couple of times but could get no closer.
“I’m glad it didn’t catch up to me and nobody made birdies to catch up to me,” Putnam said. “It’s hard to make three or four birdies in the last five or six holes. I knew if I made some pars I’d probably be the winner.”
Putnam will have to put both his birthday and victory celebration on hold until Tuesday. He will be joining 121 other competitors in Monday’s 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifying at Woodmont Country Club in nearby Rockville, Maryland.
NOTES
-- Sunday weather: Mostly cloudy with very light afternoon rain showers. Wind S-SW 10-20 mph. High of 79.
-- Only nine players finished under par this week, the fewest on Tour since the 2012 Panama Claro Championship when Edward Loar’s winning score was 4 under and only six players were under par for the week.
With this victory, Putnam ...
-- Picks up a first-place cheque for $108,000
-- Increases his season total to $354,234
-- Maintains his place at No. 1 on the money list
-- Increases his lead on the money list to $132,876 over No. 2 Edward Loar, who missed the cut this week.
-- Joins a short list of players who have registered consecutive victories on Tour. Putnam is the eighth player in Tour history to do it in back-to-back weeks:
-- Chesson Hadley, a 25-year old rookie from Georgia Tech, chalked up his third straight top-6 finish with his runner-up effort this week. Hadley admitted that he was doing his best to chase down eventual winner Michael Putnam but he also knew what another solid week might mean in the long run.
“I think he (Putnam) was four up when I was on the 14th tee and this course is just too tough to catch somebody without some help,” he said. “It’s difficult to get too aggressive because the ultimate goal on this Tour is to advance. If I try too hard and make a stupid mistake on 17 and make double, maybe I finish seventh instead of second. The money means something out here so it’s tough to balance that sometimes. You do everything you can to win, but you also don’t take silly chances that could cost you a lot of money.”
Hadley birdied the 17th hole to close the gap on Putnam to two, but that’s where he remained.
His consolation prize was a solo second-place check for $64,800, which vaulted him up from No. 25 on the money list to No. 8.
Bronson La’Cassie (67), Daniel Chopra (70) and Chad Collins (72) wound up at 3-under 277 and four off the pace.
Peter Tomasulo (65), Alex Prugh (68), Scott Dunlap (71) and Sung Kang (73) shared sixth place at 1 under.
Putnam, winner of last week’s Mexico Open, picked up a check for $108,000 and increased his hold on the top spot of the Tour’s money list. His season total of $354,234 puts him more than $132,000 in front of No. 2 Edward Loar.
“It’s the second week in a row and I can’t get used to it enough,” Putnam told the crowd at the trophy presentation.
The former Pepperdine All-American started the final round at 5 under and tied for the lead with playing partners Collins and Kang. Three birdie putts of 15, 10 and 12 feet on his first six holes separated Putnam from the pack.
“To pull away from the field early was big, especially with the windy conditions and knowing it was going to be a tough day,” Putnam said. “It was going to be tough to make any birdies today and to start off with three cemented the lead for a good while.”
Putnam got ahead of himself when he was up by four and staring at a 4-foot birdie putt at No. 8, which would have stretched his lead to five strokes.
“My mind started racing thinking about my family and what I was going to do with the win and a bunch of other stuff,” he said. “Then I missed it. I knew there were a bunch of tough holes ahead and I caught myself. I tried not to exhale the rest of the back nine.”
With his lead at four and the TPC course showing its teeth once again – the four-day scoring average for the par-70 layout was 72.631 – Putnam took his foot off the gas pedal.
“If you get aggressive on this golf course it’s real easy to make bogeys. There are penalties everywhere,” he said. “I was aiming towards the middle of the greens having 20 footers for birdie.”
Putnam didn’t make many but then neither did anyone else. The only one applying any pressure was Hadley, who closed to within two a couple of times but could get no closer.
“I’m glad it didn’t catch up to me and nobody made birdies to catch up to me,” Putnam said. “It’s hard to make three or four birdies in the last five or six holes. I knew if I made some pars I’d probably be the winner.”
Putnam will have to put both his birthday and victory celebration on hold until Tuesday. He will be joining 121 other competitors in Monday’s 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifying at Woodmont Country Club in nearby Rockville, Maryland.
NOTES
-- Sunday weather: Mostly cloudy with very light afternoon rain showers. Wind S-SW 10-20 mph. High of 79.
-- Only nine players finished under par this week, the fewest on Tour since the 2012 Panama Claro Championship when Edward Loar’s winning score was 4 under and only six players were under par for the week.
With this victory, Putnam ...
-- Picks up a first-place cheque for $108,000
-- Increases his season total to $354,234
-- Maintains his place at No. 1 on the money list
-- Increases his lead on the money list to $132,876 over No. 2 Edward Loar, who missed the cut this week.
-- Joins a short list of players who have registered consecutive victories on Tour. Putnam is the eighth player in Tour history to do it in back-to-back weeks:
-- Chesson Hadley, a 25-year old rookie from Georgia Tech, chalked up his third straight top-6 finish with his runner-up effort this week. Hadley admitted that he was doing his best to chase down eventual winner Michael Putnam but he also knew what another solid week might mean in the long run.
“I think he (Putnam) was four up when I was on the 14th tee and this course is just too tough to catch somebody without some help,” he said. “It’s difficult to get too aggressive because the ultimate goal on this Tour is to advance. If I try too hard and make a stupid mistake on 17 and make double, maybe I finish seventh instead of second. The money means something out here so it’s tough to balance that sometimes. You do everything you can to win, but you also don’t take silly chances that could cost you a lot of money.”
Hadley birdied the 17th hole to close the gap on Putnam to two, but that’s where he remained.
His consolation prize was a solo second-place check for $64,800, which vaulted him up from No. 25 on the money list to No. 8.
Labels: NATIONWIDE TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Monday, June 03, 2013
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