Collins wins Miccosukee Championship by 1 for second Nationwide title

MIAMI, Fla. -- Chad Collins capped off a wind-blown final round at the Miccosukee Championship with a 30-foot birdie putt that gave him a two-stroke win in the final full-field event on the Nationwide Tour on Sunday.

Collins began the day as one of four co-leaders and needed only a 1-under-par 70 to earn his second career title. The victory was worth $112,500 for Collins, who had finished second three times this year, and pushed his season total to $386,014 heading into next week's Tour Championship at Daniel Island, S.C.

"It's nice to get one, finally," said Collins, whose first victory came at the 2005 Henrico County Open near Richmond, Va. "I'm overwhelmed. Winning is awesome, it never gets old. It's nice to win again. I was wondering if I would ever win again."

Collins and Minnesota's Justin Smith (72), a Monday qualifier, were locked in a battle and tied for the lead at 9 under par as they played the 72nd hole. Collins saw his sand wedge on the 375-yard hole come up short of center, while Smith's second nestled into a gnarly lie in the Bermuda grass behind the 18th green.

Australian Won Joon Lee (71) and Brian Smock (72) were already in the clubhouse at 8 under par and thinking they might still make a playoff. Argentina's Fabian Gomez(71) and Bradley Iles (71) of New Zealand tied for fifth, three back of Collins.

Sunday's final round produced a scoring average more than three full strokes above par (74.048) and most of the field did its best to keep from going backward during the tournament's toughest day. Collins had chipped in for birdie from 35 feet at No. 15 but was coming off consecutive bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17. Smith had also bogeyed the par-5 16th to fall back.

Nobody would have imagined what happened next. Smith, a member of the 2002 University of Minnesota NCAA Championship team, skulled his wedge back across the green and into a greenside bunker.

"There was a lot of grass behind the ball. I had it visualized perfectly, I was trying to make a high lob shot," he said. "It was a shot you have to take on in that situation. I would be wrong if I didn't say I wanted to do it over again."

His blast from the beach came within inches of the cup, but he would settle for bogey and a tie for second. Smith's last-minute miscue left Collins needing a par to win.

"My heart goes out to him," said Collins, who moved up six places to No. 2 on the money list. "I certainly wasn't expecting him to do that. I walked up on the green and fully expected him to get up and down. I knew I was going to need two putts just to get into a playoff."

Instead of a playoff, he was handed an opportunity to win outright.

"I knew it was going to be fast," said Collins. "I was just trying to cozy it down there. I guess my nerves got the best of me and I hit it too hard. I don't know how far past it would have gone but I'm sure I would have missed that one coming back.

"Luckily the hole got in the way for me. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is knowing what you have to do and then doing it."

Collins hung around the lead all day and all week, courtesy of a solid short game and putting touch. He was tied for 25th in driving accuracy and tied for 38thin greens in regulation but finished second in putting.

"I grinded my butt off this week," said the Indiana resident. "I didn't hit the ball exceptionally well but I did make a lot of up-and-downs. My putter did its job this week. I made a lot of those three- and four-footers for par that you need to make."

Final-Round Notes: Won Joon Lee finished at 8 under par and tied for second, his best finish of the year and matching his career-best (2008 Utah Championship). More importantly, he collected $46,666, which helped him move from No. 73 to No. 47 on the money list and qualify for next week's Tour Championship at Daniel Island, S.C. ... Runner-up Justin Smith was No. 128 on the money list and needed to win or finish solo second to earn enough money to make it to the Tour Championship. His mistake at the final green kept him from advancing. He wound up No. 75 on the money list.

Among those moving into the top 60 this week, and thus moving on to the Nationwide Tour Championship were Won Joon Lee (tied for second, moves from No. 73 to No. 47); Brian Smock (tied for second, moves from No. 64 to No. 41); and Darron Stiles (tied for 12th, moves from No. 67 to No. 60).

The odd man out on the money list is Bermuda's Michael Sims, who finished tied for 17th this week. Sims was No. 65 to begin the week but his check for 9,062 was only enough to get him to No. 61, $2,145 back of No. 60 Darron Stiles. ... The 615-yard, par-5 16th hole played to a scoring average of 5.160, which makes it the toughest par-5 on Tour this year.

Leading money-winner Michael Sim of Australia tied for 17th and pocketed another $9,062 to add to his record total for the year. Sim, a three-time winner in 2009, increased his Nationwide Tour single-season mark to $536,142.

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