Patrick McCormick rolled home a 15-foot birdie putt on the fifth extra hole (No. 12) to outlast defending champion Denny McCarthy for the championship of the 93rd Maryland Open at Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, July 16.
McCormick, from Baltimore CC, and McCarthy, from Argyle CC, matched pars for the first four holes of sudden-death (Nos. 1-18-1-11), although each had short putts to win along the way but could not convert. At the 413-yard 12th, after McCormick had put his second shot on the green, McCarthy came up short from a fairway bunker, chipped to 25 feet and watched as the ball missed the cup. The winning putt followed.
McCormick finished 68-71-69–208, and McCarthy, 69-71-68–208. Both players completed their second rounds on schedule, but the afternoon wave had two weather suspensions and eventually all of those players had to complete that round on the third day prior to the start of the final round.
Against par of 36-35–71 over a 6,804-yard course, McCormick closed with 35-34–69, and McCarthy, 34-34–68. Playing one group apart, McCarthy finished bogey-bogey to fall back to a tie, and McCormick had a chance to win in regulation on 18, but he missed his 12-foot birdie putt.
McCormick, 24, a Loyola University graduate got a message from his college coach, Chris Baloga, on the eve of the final round, volunteering to caddy. The recipient, who had carried his own bag the first two rounds, was quick to accept. “He was great,” the winner said, “because he kept me focused, and with his experience, course management knowledge, and the way he reads greens, it was a big help.”
McCarthy, 21, a University of Virginia senior, was bidding for a Maryland State Golf Association “slam,” as he had won, in succession, the 2013 Amateur and Open and the 2014 Amateur. “I didn’t help myself all week,” he declared, and this was especially true in his regulation finish and his tee shots in the playoff, where he missed four fairways and found two fairway bunkers.
George Bradford, a teaching professional from Waverly Woods GC, threatened to steal the leaders’ thunder, but came up one shot short after ending with tournament-best 65 for s 54-hole total of 209 after starting 74-70 He eagled the 274-yard 15th with a 270-yard drive and a five-foot putt, and had five birdies and one bogey, a three-putt at the par-3 17th. There were several other chances but no success, most notably the 343-yard, par-4 sixth, where he drove the green and three-putted. He had qualified for the event with a course-record 63 at Worthington Manor GC.
The top three were followed by Sean Bosdosh, the 2011 titlist from Holly Hills CC, 210; Eric Egloff, from Sandy Spring, 211, and five players at 213, including second-round leader Josh Eure, Crofton CC, who had opened 69-69; Charlie Winegardner, Old South CC, who finished 69-69, and four-time winner Chip Sullivan, undone by a triple-bogey on his first hole coming out of the first suspension of second-round play, who had 69-74-70.
Tyler Herriott, from Old South CC, got his first hole-in-one — joining Yong Joo, who had one in the second round — when he hit a 180-yard 6-iron shot at the 13th. The 18-year-old Ohio University sophomore preceded his ace with a bogey-bogey-triple run, but recovered with two late birdies and eventually ended with three straight 74’s.
Notes: Alex Church, from Pine Ridge GC, included two eagles in his final-round effort, one at the 577-yard third (3-wood second to 4 feet) and a chip-in at the 512-yard 16th. He finished with 67-214. . .McCormick also collected the Harry Pitt Trophy as the low amateur. . .47 players at 148 and better played the final round. . .The 2015 Open will be held at Columbia CC in Chevy Chase.
-Reported by John Stewart from Lakewood Country Club
