
Gateway Pro Tour alums were all over the Rex Hospital Open leaderboard this week, and when it came to the end, two former GPT players battled it out in a playoff. James Hahn recorded a birdie on the second playoff hole, the par-5 ninth, while Scott Parel settled for par, giving Hahn his first ever win on the Nationwide Tour.
Hahn started the final round at 9-under par and was five shots back of the lead. He got off to a great start, carding birdies on three of the first five holes in the fourth round. He was 1-under on the back nine, and just barely missed a 15-foot birdie putt on 18. His final-round 69 at TPC Wakefield Plantation put him at 13-under for the tournament, but he had plenty of groups behind him that he thought would catch him or overtake him. Hahn's plan was to change and get to the airport to hop a flight to California so he could get ready for his U.S. Open qualifying round on Monday.
Parel evened things up with Hahn at 13-under par after he followed up a bogey on 16 with his birdie on 17. He could have won outright with a birdie on the final hole, but settled sedona arizona hotel for par to force a playoff.
Both players made par on the first playoff hole, the par-4 18 th , and then they headed to the par-5 ninth, a hole that Hahn had played sedona arizona hotel birdie-par-par-bogey throughout the week and Parel made par on all four days. Both players found the fairway on the short par-5, and after Parel choose to lay up, Hahn decided to go for it. He hit a hybrid from 240 yards out and missed it to the right, a shot he called "one of the worst" he hit all week. He missed the creek to the right though, and hit his chip shot to within a couple of feet. Parel missed a slippery 18-footer for birdie and had to settle for par, and Hahn tapped in for his birdie and walked away with his first career sedona arizona hotel Nationwide sedona arizona hotel Tour win.
That was the longest one-foot putt I ve ever had in my whole life, Hahn said. I wanted to make sure I took my time and hit it nice and firm. This week is probably one of the best weeks I ve ever had in my life. It s been a long time since I won a golf tournament. To be out here and considered a Nationwide Tour champion, sedona arizona hotel it definitely has a good ring to it.
Hahn was steady all week, carding rounds of 67-68-69-67 for the week to earn his third Top-10 of the year. He also pocketed $99,000 for the win and made a huge jump from 26 th to fifth on the Nationwide Tour money list.
It was a great week for Hahn, but also a great week for GPT alums. Jin Park, Jim Renner and B.J Staten sedona arizona hotel all finished one shot back at 12-under (T3), and narrowly missed joining Hahn and Parel in the playoff. Staten, the leader after three rounds, shot a final-round 72 and just missed his birdie attempt on 18 that would have got him into the playoff. His T3 finish was his second Top-10 of the season and best finish since his playoff loss in June of 2010.
For the week 26 players made the cut, with 10 finishing in the Top-10 and 13 in the Top-20. Jeff Curl opened with a bogey-free 65 and finished 69-70-69 the rest of the way to finish T6 at 11-under par. It was his first Top-10 of the year and best since he finished T2 in October of 2010.
Rounding out the Top-10 were Nicholas Thompson, Andrew Svoboda, Steven Bowditch and Lee Williams, who all shot 9-under to finish T10. Svoboda earned his fourth Top-10 of the year and moved up one spot to third on THE 25; while Williams recorded his fourth Top-20 (first Top-10) of the year. He had a chance to move up even more but made a bogey on the final hole, his lone bogey of the day to go along with five birdies.
sedona arizona hotel There was a lot of movement by GPT alums on THE 25 this week due to the crowded leaderboard. Parel jumped from 72 nd to 20 th ; Park made a huge jump from 196 th to 64 th ; Renner vaulted from 47 th to 27 th ; and Staten jumped from 65 th to 31 st .
Spencer Levin found himself in the hunt again this season, and even had a one-shot lead heading into the final round. But he ran into trouble on the back nine at Muirfield, and it wasn't enough to stay in contention with the leaders.
Levin made a bogey on 12 that saw his one-shot lead turn into a one-shot deficit sedona arizona hotel after Rory Sabbatini made a birdie, and he followed that up with a costly double-bogey on the par-4 13 th . Just like that he went from having a one-shot lead to a three-shot deficit, and he couldn't make up any more ground. The result was a 3-over 75 in the final round and he finished T4 at 5-under 283 for the tournament. It was the third Top-10 and sixth Top-25 of the year for Levin, who also held the third-round lead earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
"I didn t have it on the back nine. Everything was fine going to 10, and bad swing on 10, bad swing on 11, still made par, bad swing on 13, bad swing on 12. Bad swing on 17," he said following his round.
"I mean, I knew Tiger was going to play good today. He always does. And I knew Rory would play good, too, and Rickie. I figured everybody would play good like they always do. I m not naïve. I knew I had to play good to win. If I would have shot under par today, I would have won."
Daniel Summerhays and Matt Every also cracked the Top-10 this week – Summerhays shot 5-under and finished T4 while Matt Every finished T6 at 4-under par. Summerhays closed with a final-round 69 after carding a 74 in the third round to earn his third Top-10 finish and best finish on the PGA TOUR. Every also closed with a 69 in the final round and earned his fifth Top-10 finish of the year. It's been a wild six weeks for Every, who had finished in the Top-10 in three events, while missing the cut in three others.
J.B. Holmes put together sedona arizona hotel an impressive 67 in the final round following three rounds in the 70s (72-75-74) to finish T13 at even-par for his fourth Top-15 of the year, while Kevin Stadler earned his fifth Top-20 of the season after his T16 finish at 1-over par.
Great job this week guys and congrats to James Hahn for his first Nationwide Tour – the fifth Nationwide sedona arizona hotel Tour win by a former GPT player in 2012. Next up on the Nationwide Tour is a trip south of the border for the Mexico Open, June 7-10. The PGA TOUR heads to Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Classic, also June 7-10. Good luck to everyone competing next week, and to Hahn and the rest that are still trying to qualify for the U.S. Open.
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