JIMMY GUNN WINS $3,286 FOR T 32 FINISH
KRIS BLANKS WINS LOUISIANA OPEN
PLAY-OFF AT THIRD EXTRA HOLE
FROM THE WEB.COM TOUR WEBSITE
By JOE CHEMYCZ, PGATOUR.COM
BROUSSARD, Louisiana – Kris Blanks rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole to beat Brett Stegmaier and win the 23rd Chitimacha Louisiana Open
Blanks and Stegmaier were tied at 14-under 270 after four trips around the Le Triomphe Country Club course and had halved the par-4 18th hole with pars the first two times they played it.
Blanks stuffed a 7-iron to birdie range on the third try and after Stegmaier missed his birdie attempt from 60 feet the Jupiter, Florida resident rolled in his birdie to cap off a long day of waiting and earn his second career title.
“I kind of knew what the putt was doing and it was just a matter of getting it on line,” said Blanks, who picked up the winner’s cheque for $99,000. “I just thought the heck with it, let’s try to end this and let everybody go home.”
Blanks started the final round seven shots back of leader Kyle Reifers (70/T3) and vaulted up the leaderboard with a nearly flawless 9-under 62 that gave the field a number to shoot at. His round was so good that the next best score of the day were a quintet of 67s.
“I thought if my number could stay solid until the guys made it to back nine that I’d have a chance,” said Blanks. “There aren’t a lot of birdie holes on the back side. I was going to wait around until somebody got to 15 or 16 under and head on down the road.”
Blanks never got the chance to leave after finishing his round at 1:36 p.m. He was in the 14th of 34 groups and waited and waited and waited. Then he waited some more.
“I didn’t think it was going to hold up,” he said. “The longer we stood around the better my chances got.”
Stegmaier, in the next to last group, turned the front in 4-under and was at minus-15 but bogeyed the 10th and closed with eight straight pars to join Blanks in the fourth playoff in tournament history and the first since 2009.
Reifers rallied late with clutch birdies on the tough 15th and 17th holes to reach 14-under but a wayward bounce on 18 resulted in his tee shot finding the water down the right side and he missed a 15 footer for par to join the Tour’s first playoff of the 2014 season.
“I probably had six putts that wobbled out there,” said Reifers, who putted out nearly 3:20 after Blanks had finished. “Nothing you can do. I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. It just wasn’t my day.”
Blanks knows all about that. The 41-year-old Floridian has been on the sidelines for essentially a year and a half dealing with all kinds of shoulder problems. He spent several seasons on Tour and captured his first win at the 2008 Bank of America Open near Chicago before moving on to the PGA TOUR in 2009.
Injuries forced him to withdraw from last year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February and had surgery in March, almost one year to the day.
“It’s been a rough road and I’ll take it,” said Blanks. “Sometimes you never know if you’re going to get back. It’s tough. You sit at home and try to be a dad for a year and a half. It was nice to finish this off in style.”
Ole Miss rookie Jonathan Randolph carded a 4-under 67 that left him one shot back at 13-under and oh so close.
“I caught a lot of lips. I hit a lot of really good putts that didn’t go in,” he said. “I had a number at the start of the day and I really wanted to get to 16. I knew 16 would have a pretty good chance. It was one of those days of what could have been.”
Garth Mulroy, Zach Sucher, Aaron Goldberg, Sebastian Vazquez, Justin Thomas and Steve Saunders all finished 12-under and tied for fifth, two shots back.
• Sunday weather: Mostly sunny. Wind E-Se 6-12 mph. High of 71.
• The ball was played ‘down’ in round four after lift, clean and place conditions were in effect for the first three rounds.
Arizona-based Dornoch exile Jimmy Gunn finished T32 on four-under-par 281. That earned him $3,286 - not much but at least he is off and running now on America's No 2 men's pro tour.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71) Players from USA unless stated
270 Kris Blanks 71 66 71 62, Brett Stegmaier 71 66 65 68. Blanks won play-off at third extra hole.
Blanks wins $99,000; Stegmaier $59,400
271 Jonathan Randolph 66 65 73 67, Kyle Reifers 65 70 66 70 ($31,900 each)
272 Garth Mulloy (S Africa) 70 66 69 67, Zach Sucher 68 67 69 68, Aaron Goldberg 70 67 67 78, Steve Saunders 72 66 65 69, Justin Thomas 69 66 68 69 ($18,012 each).
SELECTED TOTAL
277 Jimmy Gunn (Scotland) 70 67 70 70 (T32) ($3,286).
TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZE MONEY
CLICK HERE
PLAY-OFF AT THIRD EXTRA HOLE
FROM THE WEB.COM TOUR WEBSITE
By JOE CHEMYCZ, PGATOUR.COM
BROUSSARD, Louisiana – Kris Blanks rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole to beat Brett Stegmaier and win the 23rd Chitimacha Louisiana Open
Blanks and Stegmaier were tied at 14-under 270 after four trips around the Le Triomphe Country Club course and had halved the par-4 18th hole with pars the first two times they played it.
Blanks stuffed a 7-iron to birdie range on the third try and after Stegmaier missed his birdie attempt from 60 feet the Jupiter, Florida resident rolled in his birdie to cap off a long day of waiting and earn his second career title.
“I kind of knew what the putt was doing and it was just a matter of getting it on line,” said Blanks, who picked up the winner’s cheque for $99,000. “I just thought the heck with it, let’s try to end this and let everybody go home.”
Blanks started the final round seven shots back of leader Kyle Reifers (70/T3) and vaulted up the leaderboard with a nearly flawless 9-under 62 that gave the field a number to shoot at. His round was so good that the next best score of the day were a quintet of 67s.
“I thought if my number could stay solid until the guys made it to back nine that I’d have a chance,” said Blanks. “There aren’t a lot of birdie holes on the back side. I was going to wait around until somebody got to 15 or 16 under and head on down the road.”
Blanks never got the chance to leave after finishing his round at 1:36 p.m. He was in the 14th of 34 groups and waited and waited and waited. Then he waited some more.
“I didn’t think it was going to hold up,” he said. “The longer we stood around the better my chances got.”
Stegmaier, in the next to last group, turned the front in 4-under and was at minus-15 but bogeyed the 10th and closed with eight straight pars to join Blanks in the fourth playoff in tournament history and the first since 2009.
Reifers rallied late with clutch birdies on the tough 15th and 17th holes to reach 14-under but a wayward bounce on 18 resulted in his tee shot finding the water down the right side and he missed a 15 footer for par to join the Tour’s first playoff of the 2014 season.
“I probably had six putts that wobbled out there,” said Reifers, who putted out nearly 3:20 after Blanks had finished. “Nothing you can do. I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. It just wasn’t my day.”
Blanks knows all about that. The 41-year-old Floridian has been on the sidelines for essentially a year and a half dealing with all kinds of shoulder problems. He spent several seasons on Tour and captured his first win at the 2008 Bank of America Open near Chicago before moving on to the PGA TOUR in 2009.
Injuries forced him to withdraw from last year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February and had surgery in March, almost one year to the day.
“It’s been a rough road and I’ll take it,” said Blanks. “Sometimes you never know if you’re going to get back. It’s tough. You sit at home and try to be a dad for a year and a half. It was nice to finish this off in style.”
Ole Miss rookie Jonathan Randolph carded a 4-under 67 that left him one shot back at 13-under and oh so close.
“I caught a lot of lips. I hit a lot of really good putts that didn’t go in,” he said. “I had a number at the start of the day and I really wanted to get to 16. I knew 16 would have a pretty good chance. It was one of those days of what could have been.”
Garth Mulroy, Zach Sucher, Aaron Goldberg, Sebastian Vazquez, Justin Thomas and Steve Saunders all finished 12-under and tied for fifth, two shots back.
-
Kris Blanks with the Chitimacha Louisiana Open trophy
• Sunday weather: Mostly sunny. Wind E-Se 6-12 mph. High of 71.
• The ball was played ‘down’ in round four after lift, clean and place conditions were in effect for the first three rounds.
Arizona-based Dornoch exile Jimmy Gunn finished T32 on four-under-par 281. That earned him $3,286 - not much but at least he is off and running now on America's No 2 men's pro tour.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71) Players from USA unless stated
270 Kris Blanks 71 66 71 62, Brett Stegmaier 71 66 65 68. Blanks won play-off at third extra hole.
Blanks wins $99,000; Stegmaier $59,400
271 Jonathan Randolph 66 65 73 67, Kyle Reifers 65 70 66 70 ($31,900 each)
272 Garth Mulloy (S Africa) 70 66 69 67, Zach Sucher 68 67 69 68, Aaron Goldberg 70 67 67 78, Steve Saunders 72 66 65 69, Justin Thomas 69 66 68 69 ($18,012 each).
SELECTED TOTAL
277 Jimmy Gunn (Scotland) 70 67 70 70 (T32) ($3,286).
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 31, 2014
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