Tourinho holds off charging Phillips to defend Section Championship
By Ken MacLeod
ENID – Tracy Phillips and Tim Fleming have been the dominant golfers in the PGA South Central Section for not just years but, in the case of Fleming, for decades.
Both now in their early 60s, the two former Oklahoma State All-Americans had the lessons of Father Time reinforced to them on the first hole of the final round of the PGA South Central Section Championship on a blazing Tuesday afternoon at Oakwood Country Club in Enid.
Andre Tourinho, the strapping 36-year-old assistant at Southern Hills Country Club and judging by his performances the past two years the new sheriff in town, knocked his drive some 50 yards past the elder statesmen on the par-5 first hole.
“And he said he didn’t even hit it very well,” Phillips said.
Since Tourinho started the final round with a four-shot lead over Phillips and five over Fleming, it looked to be a mismatch. And when Tourinho birdied holes five and six to stretch his advantage to six and seven shots, it was over, right?
Not so fast.
While Fleming made a remarkable birdie on the difficult par-4 ninth and chipped in for a crucial par on 11, he never really caught fire, finishing at even-par 71 and tying for fourth place. Phillips, on the other hand, made his first birdie of the round on the par-4 10th hole, then proceeded to pour in birdies on 13, 14, 15 and 17. That added up to a final round of 4-under 67 and moved him to 8-under-par.
Tourinho, who started the day at 8-under after consecutive rounds of 67 and reached 10-under early, had a few stumbles coming in and suddenly found his lead down to two shots as they stood on the tee of the par-3 16th hole. Phillips hit his tee shot about 12 feet above the hole and Tourinho was some 35 feet to the left, facing a putt that broke 7 or 8 feet.
He poured it in.
That restored the lead to three shots. Phillips birdied 17 and had a chance to tie after a brilliant second shot on 18. But he settled for par when his 10-footer missed and even a final hole bogey by Tourinho left him with a one-shot advantage.
The Section Championship is also the qualifier for the 2027 PGA Professional Championship. scheduled April 25–28, 2027, at Streamsong Golf Resort in Bowling Green, Florida. The top 20 finishers there will earn a berth in the 2027 PGA Championship May 20-23 at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas.
Phillips qualified for the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla and Fleming qualified for five consecutive from 2001-05. Both will give it another try next spring, as will Tourinho, the former University of Tulsa golfer from Brazil who gave professional golf a good run before getting into the club pro side.
“Why not,” Fleming said. “Fortunately we both know how to play golf. We just have to hit longer clubs in.”
The six qualifiers were Tourinho at 9 under, Phillips 8 under, Bennett Baldwin of Stillwater Country Club at 4 under, Fleming and Andre Lehman of Hillcrest Country Club at 3 under and Chris Tidland of Stillwater Country Club at 2 under.
Tourinho defended his Section Championship title he won in 2025 and has won nearly every section event he’s entered in 2026, including his first Section Match Play Championship. Still he said he enjoyed his final round watching and learning from Phillips and Fleming.
“Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about my position vs. those guys early, I was just trying to play my game,” Tourinho said. “But then Tracy birdies 13, 14, 15 and 17 and I was like, wait a minute, where am I at?
“When you play with two guys like that you just try to absorb as much knowledge as you can. The thing that impresses you is how calm they are in going about their business.”
| 1 | Andre TourinhoSouthern Hills Country Club – Championship | -9 | F | -1 | 67 | 67 | 70 | 204 | ||
| 2 |  | Tracy PhillipsCedar Ridge Country Club | -8 | F | -4 | 70 | 68 | 67 | 205 | |
| 3 | Bennett BaldwinStillwater Country Club | -4 | F | -3 | 67 | 74 | 68 | 209 | ||
| T4 | Andrew LehmanHillcrest Country Club | -3 | F | -1 | 66 | 74 | 70 | 210 | ||
| T4 | Tim FlemingOklahoma City Golf & Country Club | -3 | F | E | 70 | 69 | 71 | 210 | ||
| 6 | Chris TidlandStillwater Country Club | -2 | F | -2 | 70 | 72 | 69 | 211 | ||
| 7 | | Shannon FridayOklahoma City Golf & Country Club | -1 | F | E | 70 | 71 | 71 | 212 | |
| T8 | Zach TuckerOakwood Country Club of Enid | E | F | E | 73 | 69 | 71 | 213 | ||
| T8 | Clint ColbertCimarron National Golf Club | E | F | +1 | 71 | 70 | 72 | 213 | ||
| T8 | Brent WilliamsonCanyons at Blackjack Ridge | E | F | +3 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 213 | ||
| NOT CURRENTLY IN CONTENTION | ||||||||||
| T11 | Seth GarnerCountry Club of Little Rock | +2 | F | E | 70 | 74 | 71 | 215 | ||
| T11 | Jacob GrellnerOak Tree Country Club | +2 | F | -1 | 73 | 72 | 70 | 215 | ||
| 13 | | Malachi MurphyWinter Creek Golf & Social Club | +3 | F | +4 | 72 | 69 | 75 | 216 | |
| T14 | | Brent WilcoxenSouth Lakes Golf Course | +4 | F | +4 | 73 | 69 | 75 | 217 | |
| T14 | | Bruce BaxleySearcy Country Club | +4 | – | – | 72 | 74 | 146 | ||
| T14 | Austin PetersThe Territory Golf Club | +4 | – | – | 71 | 75 | 146 | |||
| T17 | Casey FosterPhase Putters | +5 | F | +3 | 72 | 72 | 74 | 218 | ||
| T17 | | Jarod LundyBelmar Golf Club | +5 | F | +3 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 218 | |
| T17 | Casey McCoyTodd Graves Golf School, LLC | +5 | – | – | 75 | 72 | 147 | |||
| T17 | David GuyRolling Hills Country Club | +5 | – | – | 75 | 72 | 147 | |||
| T17 | Will JacksonChenal Country Club | +5 | – | – | 75 | 72 | 147 | |||
| T22 | Amber DukeOaks Country Club | +6 | F | +5 | 71 | 72 | 76 | 219 | ||
| T22 | | Jon BurtonHardscrabble Country Club | +6 | F | +4 | 73 | 71 | 75 | 219 | |
| T22 | Alexander LeeKarsten Golf Club | +6 | F | +4 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 219 | ||
| T22 | Aaron KristopeitLincoln Park Golf Course – East | +6 | F | +3 | 75 | 70 | 74 | 219 | ||
| T22 | Riley SeitzReflection Ridge Golf Club | +6 | – | – | 77 | 71 | 148 | |||
| T22 | | Trent RommannCrestview Country Club | +6 | – | – | 74 | 74 | 148 | ||
| T22 | Matt DavisThe Greens Country Club | +6 | – | – | 74 | 74 | 148 | |||
| T22 | | Cary CozbySouthern Hills Country Club – Championship | +6 | – | – | 78 | 70 | 148 | ||
| T30 | Jett JohnsonQuail Creek Golf & Country Club | +7 | – | – | 75 | 74 | 149 | |||
| T30 | Derek FrancoTwin Hills Golf & Country Club | +7 | – | – | 76 | 73 | 149 | |||
| T30 | Adam MillerGUTHRIE G. & C. C. | +7 | – | – | 76 | 73 | 149 | |||
| T30 | Bobby JacksWichita Country Club | +7 | – | – | 77 | 72 | 149 | |||
| T30 | Riley HarrisOklahoma City Golf & Country Club | +7 | – | – | 73 | 76 | 149 | |||
| T35 | Mark BudlerPage Belcher Golf Course | +8 | F | +6 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 221 | ||
| T35 | Kurt GibsonReflection Ridge Golf Club | +8 | – | – | 75 | 75 | 150 | |||
| T35 | | Kyley TetleyBroken Arrow Golf & Athletic Club | +8 | – | – | 76 | 74 | 150 | ||
| T35 | Kevin MobergYETI | +8 | – | – | 74 | 76 | 150 | |||
| T35 | | Garrett DielOklahoma City Golf & Country Club | +8 | – | – | 78 | 72 | 150 | ||
| T35 | Seth ZacksStoic Golf | +8 | – | – | 73 | 77 | 150 | |||
| T41 | Todd PinneoLost Springs Golf & Athletic Club | +9 | – | – | 76 | 75 | 151 | |||
| T41 | | Joey MartinezJimmie Austin Golf Club | +9 | – | – | 77 | 74 | 151 | ||
| T41 | Jacob BairdPatriot Golf Club, The | +9 | – | – | 78 | 73 | 151 | |||
| T41 | Dan RooneyPatriot Golf Club, The | +9 | – | – | 78 | 73 | 151 | |||
| 45 | Scott WilliamsenWichita Country Club | +10 | – | – | 77 | 75 | 152 | |||
| T46 | | Darren WattsLake Hefner Golf Club – North Course | +11 | – | – | 75 | 78 | 153 | ||
| T46 | Troy ArfstenOklahoma City Golf & Country Club | +11 | – | – | 77 | 76 | 153 | |||
| T46 | Dustin KennedyCedar Ridge Country Club | +11 | – | – | 78 | 75 | 153 | |||
| T49 | Tanner HughesSouth Lakes Golf Course | +12 | – | – | 75 | 79 | 154 | |||
| T49 | Mike ElafrosThe Greens Country Club | +12 | – | – | 78 | 76 | 154 | |||
| T49 | Blake IvyPage Belcher Golf Course | +12 | – | – | 79 | 75 | 154 | |||
| 52 | | Philip HolleyHot Springs Country Club | +14 | – | – | 79 | 77 | 156 | ||
| T53 | Brady FennelAcushnet Company | +15 | – | – | 80 | 77 | 157 | |||
| T53 | Trey StellingWinter Creek Golf & Social Club | +15 | – | – | 82 | 75 | 157 | |||
| T55 | | John Hron VHillcrest Country Club | +17 | – | – | 78 | 81 | 159 | ||
| T55 | Ty NelsonWichita Country Club | +17 | – | – | 73 | 86 | 159 | |||
| T55 | Corey BurdBailey Ranch Golf Club | +17 | – | – | 80 | 79 | 159 | |||
| 58 | Holden CragoOaks Country Club | +19 | – | – | 79 | 82 | 161 | |||
| 59 | Tanya SowdersOklahoma City Golf & Country Club | +20 | – | – | 81 | 81 | 162 | |||
| 60 | Wes LawhornThe Territory Golf Club | +21 | – | – | 78 | 85 | 163 | |||
| 61 | | Jeff TuckerOklahoma City Golf & Country Club | +24 | – | – | 87 | 79 | 166 | ||
| T62 | Derek HahnElk City Golf & Country Club | +25 | – | – | 83 | 84 | 167 | |||
| T62 | | Barry HowardHot Springs Country Club | +25 | – | – | 84 | 83 | 167 | ||
| 64 | | Troy HendricksTerradyne Country Club | +26 | – | – | 81 | 87 | 168 | ||
| 65 | Devin DavenportGaillardia Country Club | +28 | – | – | 84 | 86 | 170 | |||
| 66 | Andrew ForbesHeritage Hills | +30 | – | – | 79 | 93 | 172 | |||
| 67 | Dakota WeinetteThe Greens Country Club | +38 | – | – | 88 | 92 | 180 | |||
| 68 | Sebastien CourtoisDick’s Sporting Goods | +43 | – | – | 95 | 90 | 185 | |||