Chasing Places

Winning the PGA Club Professional Championship is the ultimate goal Sunday, but much more is at stake at Twin Warriors. For starters, the top 25 finishers earn berths in the 2003 PGA Championship.

Bob Denney
PGA.com Contributor

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. -- Steve Schneiter of Sandy, Utah, who sampled the fruits of a national championship eight years ago, takes a three-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round of the 36th PGA Club Professional Championship after patiently crafting a 1-under-par 71 Saturday at Twin Warriors Golf Club.

The 39-year-old Schneiter, who won the 1995 CPC in La Quinta, Calif., owns a 54-hole total of 4-under-par 212 in the $400,000 Championship, which features the top PGA Professionals from 38 states and 38 PGA Sections.

Tim Thelen of Richmond, Texas, winner of the 2000 CPC, and Kevin Burton of Boise, Idaho -- teammates on the 2000 PGA Cup Team in Wales --- are a stroke off the pace at 213. Thelen matched the day’s best round with a 69 to climb back into contention while Burton bogeyed the 18th hole for a 71.

Alan Morin of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., the leader or co-leader through 38 holes before scrambling to a Saturday 74, is alone in fourth at 214, while Rick Schuller of Chester, Va., is fifth at 215.

“I just tried to not do anything too stupid,” said Schneiter. “I’m just trying to stay in the present and not worry about what’s happened behind me. On the first hole, I hit it on in two and two-putted for birdie. I birdied No. 11 and 12 on the backside and then parred out. It was kind of steady and nothing spectacular.”

Schneiter, an assistant professional at his family-owned Schneiter’s PebbleBrook Golf Links in Sandy, Utah, capped his round for the second straight day by making a clutch par putt. This time, he two-putted from 15 feet, making a comeback four-foot downhill putt.

“Those are some good thoughts that I can keep with me tonight,” said Schneiter, one of only 14 to break par on a typically gusty afternoon at the 7,624-yard layout in north central New Mexico.

Thelen, 42, an assistant professional at Bushwood Golf Center in Houston, Texas, and who has finished no worse than eighth in his past four CPC appearances, appears poised for another title run.

“I’ve hit the ball good all three days, and I hit it good again today,” said Thelen. “I went to a new putter the first day to put my putter into time-out. I took it out yesterday and I’ve putted well the last two days. These greens are tough to read. They’re firm and getting quick. I got myself in the thick of it today and hopefully I can go out and play well tomorrow.”

Burton, a 40-year-old teaching professional at Banbury Golf Course in Eagle, Idaho, won last year’s 2002 Western CPC and spent 2001 on the former Buy.com Tour.

“It was kind of a different round. I got a couple of weird lies like on No. 16,” said Burton. “That comes when you miss the fairway. I missed that green a bit, but I struck the ball really well today. My driver and tee shots were phenomenal and I hit a lot of shots close in there. I just didn’t make a lot of putts. Maybe tomorrow we can knock a few in.”

Morin, who birdied the first hole before making three front-nine bogeys, came back with birdies on the 12th and 17th holes to keep himself within range of Schneiter.

“I just kept plugging along, and on a day like this, not too many are going to run away with it,” said Morin, 34, who is competing in his third CPC after tying for ninth last year. “I just wanted to keep it around par. With the wind blowing like it is and the greens rock hard, and pins that you can’t get to, you can’t do much more. The USGA would have loved to have had greens like this last week in the (U.S.) Open.”

Morin, an assistant professional at The Falls Country Club in Lake Worth, Fla., was the lone club professional to compete in this year’s Open. He missed the cut, but has bounced back while playing at a course at 5,400 feet above sea level.

“I was able to make a 12-footer at 17 to keep me going, then hit what I thought was a good chip at 18, but the ball kept rolling off the green. My par putt, I thought, was perfect,” said Morin. “It was that kind of day.”

The day’s top shotmaking honors were shared by 2001 CPC Champion Wayne DeFrancesco of Baltimore, Md., and Mike Kullberg of Bonham, Texas, who each posted a hole-in-one nearly an hour apart. DeFrancesco, a teaching professional at Woodholme Country Club in Baltimore, aced the 201-yard No. 4 hole with a 6-iron. Kullberg, playing in his first CPC, used a 4-iron to ace the 208-yard 15th hole.

A field of 77 players who earned the right to compete on the weekend for a first prize of $53,000, averaged 74.35 strokes on a course that is the longest layout in PGA of America competitive history.

The 36th PGA Club Professional Championship is presented by Buick, Club Car, Titleist/FootJoy Worldwide and Cobra Golf. The low 25 scorers after Sunday’s final round will earn a berth in the 85th PGA Championship, Aug. 14-17 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.