Smith, Zwemke, Bensel survive playoff to make PGA

Frank Bensel made a 10-foot birdie putt on the first playoff Sunday, and Bruce Smith and Zane Zwemke each made pars to join 22 other PGA Professionals who qualified for the 86th PGA Championship at Whisting Straits in August.

By John L. Byrwa, Managing Editor

NASHPORT, Ohio (PGA.com) -- Given what he had to accomplish just to get into the 37th PGA Club Professional Championship field, a playoff was probably the best thing that ever happened to Zane Zwemke on Sunday.

Zwemke, a teaching professional at Fitzsimons Golf Course in Aurora, Colo., had to survive two separate playoffs -- in the Colorado Section Championship and in the Western PGA Regional Championship -- to garner his invite to the PGA CPC.

So when he finished 72 holes at Longaberger Golf Club tied with Frank Bensel, Bruce Smith and Bob Boyd for the final three spots to qualify for the PGA Championship, Zwemke felt right at home as the quartet headed to the 10th hole, a 538-yard par-5.

After Bensel made a 10-foot birdie putt, Zwemke and Smith each made pars, while Boyd suffered a bogey to complete the list of low 25 finishers headed to Kohler, Wisc., in August.

"The first two (playoffs) it took birdie (to win) so it was kind of a surprise that par got us in," Zwemke said. "I was just trying to not do anything stupid and stay alive."

But had Zwemke gone low to earn his spot, that would not have been a surprise, either. He twice has shot 58 -- once with a bogey at Aurora Hills Golf Club in Denver and the other time at Homestead Golf Club in Lakewood, Colo.

Playing in his first PGA CPC, Zwemke was thrilled with his performance, which included a final-round 74. But without a doubt, his biggest shot of the tournament came on Saturday at the par-5 16th, where Zwemke holed a monster 100-foot putt to save par.

"It won't sink in until probably tonight," Zwemke said of playing in the PGA. "It still hasn't hit me yet."

Like Zwemke, Smith and Bensel are also headed to their first PGA Championship.

"I'm just absolutely thrilled," Bensel, an assistant professional at Century Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., said. "I'm really looking forward to playing in the PGA."

Smith, the head professional at The Trails of Frisco Golf Club in Frisco, Texas, entered his fourth CPC with career-best finish of a tie for 52nd in 2000. After a deflating 76 on Saturday left him far out of the top 25, Smith refused to give up. Instead, he returned to Longaberger on Sunday with a free mind and a go-for-broke attitude.

His new-found strategy paid off in a solid 71 that got him into the playoff.

"I just said this last round let's just play golf and let it all hang out," Smith said. "We got it to 3-under on No. 10, then I hit good shots on a couple holes that I had trouble with all week, but my putter and wedge really saved me."

As for playing in his first PGA Championship, Smith could not help but break out into a big smile.

"It's gonna be a blast," Smith said.

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