Friday drains key putts late to win Section Professional Championship
By Murray Evans
NORMAN – Shannon Friday had trouble making putts in the PGA South Central Section Professional Championship on Tuesday – until he absolutely had to have them.
Friday’s only two final-round birdies came on No. 15 and No. 18 and he sank what proved to be a title-saving 20-foot par putt on No. 16 to hang on for a two-shot win over defending champion Michael Boyd and Trent Rommann at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.
"I kind of buckled down there right at the end," said Friday, the head pro at Lake Hefner Golf Club in northwest Oklahoma City. "It was almost too late."
Friday closed with a 1-over-par 73 on the 7,371-yard layout to finish the three-round event at 10-under 206 and take home the winner’s check of $2,720. Boyd, the director of golf at The Club at Indian Springs in Broken Arrow, shot a 69 on Tuesday while Rommann, the assistant pro at Wichita Country Club in Wichita, Kan., posted a 68.
Mark Fuller, the general manager of The Golf Club at Surrey Hills in Yukon, and Tracy Phillips, the director of instruction at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, tied for fourth, four shots behind Friday.
They will join Friday, Boyd and Rommann in representing the section at the 2016 PGA Professional National Championship, which will be played June 26-29 on the Atunyote Golf Club and Shenendoah Golf Club courses at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, N.Y. The low 20 scores in the national tournament will make the field for the 98th PGA Championship, scheduled for July 28-31 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.
"I think you’ve got a good representation of guys to go up to Turning Stone next year and represent our section," Boyd said. "You want to win, but the big goal is to have a chance to make the PGA. I played good enough to do that today."
It’s the third time Friday has qualified for the Professional National Championship, as he was the sectional runner-up in 2010 at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, Ark., and finished fifth last year at Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City.
He entered Tuesday with a six-shot cushion over Phillips, Boyd and Fuller after firing rounds of 65 and 68 on Monday.
"That made it a little easier," Friday said. "I was maybe even a little too relaxed today. I still wanted to make some birdies today. I wanted to go out there and try to really dominate, but it didn’t quite work out. Yesterday morning, I hit a lot of shots close and made a lot of putts in both rounds. Today, nothing dropped and I didn’t hit anything close, except for the one on 15."
As a result, his huge lead nearly evaporated. Friday bogeyed No. 2 and No. 9 on the front side, while Boyd birdied No. 7 and No. 8. When Boyd rolled in a birdie putt on No. 13, he was at 8-under, just one shot behind Friday.
On the par-3 No. 15, Friday’s tee shot was nearly perfect and he drained a five-foot birdie putt. But on No. 16, his tee shot went right and ended up under a small tree in the rough. Despite having to take an awkward stance to shoot, he successfully punched the ball down the fairway and then chipped onto the green, leaving himself with a tricky downhill putt to save par.
Friday drained the putt, then watched Boyd leave a 10-foot birdie attempt short, maintaining Friday’s two-shot edge.
"I was very fortunate to make that one," Friday said.
Friday hit into the bunker fronting the green on the par-4 No. 17 and made bogey, while Boyd parred. With a one-shot lead at the par-5 No. 18, Friday played it safe, keeping his first two shots in the fairway, then sticking his approach shot to 12 feet. He made the birdie putt while Boyd left his birdie attempt a foot short.
"I was just trying to play good golf and he made a few bogeys, and I slipped within one when I birdied 13," Boyd said. "I thought, ‘Maybe I’ve got a chance here.’ But I burned the edge on 14 and left those putts short on 16 and 18.
"I just didn’t make enough putts coming in. I left two short from inside 20 feet, right in the heart, on 16 and 18. The ones that go by don’t go in either, but you want to give them a chance."
Full Leaderboard
Pos Player Today Thru Total R1 R2 R3 Total
QUALIFIERS (5)
1 Shannon Friday +1 F -10 65 68 73 206
T2 Trent Rommann -4 F -8 71 69 68 208
T2 Michael Boyd -3 F -8 70 69 69 208
T4 Mark Fuller -1 F -6 68 71 71 210
T4 Tracy Phillips -1 F -6 69 70 71 210
ALTERNATES – IN ORDER (3)
T6 Patrick Bates -1 F -2 74 69 71 214
T6 Jeremy Dear -1 F -2 72 71 71 214
T6 Steven Hausmann +1 F -2 72 69 73 214
DID NOT QUALIFY
T6 Jim Woodward -1 F -2 69 74 71 214
10 Tim Fleming -2 F -1 74 71 70 215
11 Greg Bray +3 F E 71 70 75 216
12 Jim Young +4 F +1 71 70 76 217
T13 Cary Cozby E F +2 74 72 72 218
T13 Brian Soerensen +1 F +2 72 73 73 218
T13 Kyley Tetley +2 F +2 67 77 74 218
T13 Tyler Woodward +5 F +2 69 72 77 218
T17 Blake Bowman +1 F +3 73 73 73 219
T17 Derrick Vest +5 F +3 75 67 77 219
T19 Lee Johnson +2 F +5 77 70 74 221
T19 Dustin Semsch +7 F +5 73 69 79 221
T21 Jarod Lundy +1 F +6 70 79 73 222
T21 Tim Graves +2 F +6 77 71 74 222
T21 Derek Franco +6 F +6 70 74 78 222
24 Philip Holley +4 F +7 72 75 76 223
T25 Brent Wilcoxen +3 F +9 74 76 75 225
T25 Kyle Flinton +2 F +9 80 71 74 225
T25 James Kane +5 F +9 73 75 77 225
T25 Kevin Moberg +6 F +9 72 75 78 225
29 Kurt Gibson +7 F +10 77 70 79 226
30 Art Romero +4 F +11 75 76 76 227
T31 Michael Henderson +7 F +12 79 70 79 228
T31 Mark Budler +6 F +12 75 75 78 228
T33 Mike Stewart +7 F +13 75 75 79 229
T33 Ryan Rody +9 F +13 72 76 81 229
T33 Troy Hendricks +6 F +13 77 74 78 229
T33 Steve Blaske +6 F +13 77 74 78 229
T33 Darren Watts +6 F +13 79 72 78 229
T33 Aaron Kristopeit +3 F +13 74 80 75 229
39 Joey Martinez +4 F +15 73 82 76 231
40 Brad Fulton +2 F +17 81 78 74 233
T41 Mike Hansen +6 F +18 79 77 78 234
T41 Rodney Young +3 F +18 76 83 75 234
43 Garrett Diel +8 F +19 80 75 80 235
T44 Bruce Baxley +7 F +21 79 79 79 237
T44 Barry Howard +5 F +21 80 80 77 237
T46 Edward Roethlisberger +10 F +23 79 78 82 239
T46 Mark Wiley +7 F +23 82 78 79 239
48 Brent Cryer +11 F +24 76 81 83 240
49 Nathan Alloway +9 F +25 82 78 81 241
50 Jeff Tucker +11 F +26 77 82 83 242
51 Kerry Petricek +12 F +27 79 80 84 243
52 Travis Anderson +6 F +29 86 81 78 245
53 Daniel Barlow +13 F +31 78 84 85 247
54 Jim Elliott +12 F +32 80 84 84 248
55 Cary Maddox +4 F +33 88 85 76 249
56 Mark Trudeau +13 F +48 81 98 85 264
57 Sebastien Courtois +21 F +70 98 95 93 286