LDA contestants bomb out 400 yard drives at WinStar
THACKERVILLE, Okla. (Oct. 21, 2015) – Drives of nearly 400 yards were on full display Tuesday night in the Round of 16 at the 2015 World Long Drive Championship, with eight competitors moving one step closer to winning the coveted Championship belt and the $150,000 first place prize. The champion will be crowned tonight under the lights, live and in primetime on Golf Channel beginning at 8 p.m., with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship matches playing out from WinStar World Casino and Resort.
During Tuesday night’s Round of 16, five drives eclipsed 390 yards, including Jason Eslinger’s 398 yard blast – the longest of the night – which helped him take out former World Long Drive champion and No. 1 overall seed Joe Miller despite Miller’s 394-yard drive which would have been enough to advance in five of the other seven matches.
Several matches featured narrow margins of victory, including three of the eight matches being decided by one yard or less. No. 1 seeds and former World Long Drive champions Jamie Sadlowski and Tim Burke each won their respective match with drives of more than 390 yards, while the round of 16 also saw lower seeds advance with Jeremy Easterly (10 seed), Jeff Gavin (8 seed) and Justin Young (7 seed) moving on to tonight’s quarterfinals:
Quarterfinals Matchups:
(4) Jason Eslinger (Forney, Texas) vs. (2) Will Hogue (Collierville, Tenn.)
(1) Tim Burke (Orlando, Fla.) vs. (7) Justin Young (Mount Airy, N.C.)
(8) Jeff Gavin (Hamilton, ON, Canada) vs. (10) Jeremy Easterly (Ponte Vedra, Fla.)
(1) Jamie Sadlowski (St. Paul, AB, Canada) vs. (2) Jeff Crittenden (Greensboro, N.C.)
FORMAT: During Wednesday’s match play coverage on Golf Channel, a new format has been implemented which will allow players 2 minutes, 45 seconds to hit their drives in each round, and the player who is trailing in the match will have an opportunity to hit one final ball past their opponent’s to try and advance to the next round in the bracket.
COVERAGE: Golf Channel’s coverage of the World Long Drive Championship continues in primetime from 9-11 p.m. ET. Prior to on-site event coverage, the network will dedicate a 60-minute Golf Central Pre-Game show, previewing the matchups with Hamann conducting interviews with players in the field preparing to compete, along with dedicated live booth segments with Burr, Breed and Sellinger looking ahead to each matchup.
Round of 16 Results:
(4) Jason Eslinger def. (1) Joe Miller (398-394)
(2) Will Hogue def. (3) Adam Smith (396-388)
(1) Tim Burke def. (12) Maurice Allen (396-382)
(7) Justin Young def. (6) Justin Moose (373-372)
(8) Jeff Gavin def. (5) Kevin Shook (369-368)
(10) Jeremy Easterly def. (6) Rich Moore (370-363)
(1) Jamie Sadlowski def. (4) Ryan Winther (391-385)
(2) Jeff Crittenden def. (11) Kari Hyokki (375-374)