Rod Perry hangs on to win PGA Stroke Play title for second time

 

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Rod Perry of Port Orange, Florida, survived a near collapse over his final three holes Friday at PGA Golf Club’s Ryder Course before sinking a bogey putt for an even-par 72, securing a one-stroke victory in the 62nd PGA Stroke Play Championship presented by Premier Golf and GOLF ADVISOR. 

 

Perry, the 2013 PGA Professional National Champion and PGA Head Professional at Crane Lakes Golf & Country Club in Port Orange, finished with a 72-hole total of 12-under-par 276, one stroke better than two-time defending champion Bob Sowards of Dublin, Ohio. Sowards, playing one group ahead of Perry, shot 69 after missing a short birdie putt on the 18th green.

 

It was the 41-year-old Perry’s second PGA Stroke Play Championship and first since 2007. He opened the final round with a two-stroke lead and pushed the advantage to four midway through his round. But, Perry closed the victory by finishing triple bogey-birdie-bogey to earn a $5,000 check and a large measure of relief.

 

“Sometimes you have to be lucky and today I got that,” said Perry. “Bob is such a great player, and I figured I had to be at least 5-under to stay with him. I thought I had tossed it away at 18. I dodged a couple of bullets today.”

 

Wyatt Worthington of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, (68) and Ben Polland of Manhasset, New York (69) shared third at 279. Charles Raulerson of Fleming Island, Florida, and Patrick Rada of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, were three strokes back in fifth at 282.  

 

Sowards, the 2003 PGA Professional National Champion and reigning PGA Professional Player of the Year, hit a 9-iron approach at No. 18 to within three feet of the flagstick. 

 

“I was kind of leaning into the wind and the wind nearly stopped,” said Sowards, who is recovering slowly from bronchitis. “I kind of lost my balance when I putted and pulled it. I heard Rod triple-bogeyed a hole, but he did play better than anyone else this week and deserves to win. I’m happy to finish 11-under considering the way I felt.”

 

Perry opened the day with the lead over playing partner Patrick Steffes of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and sped out with birdies on three of his first seven holes. He bogeyed No. 8, and then held steady before making a three-foot birdie putt at 15 to go four strokes up on Sowards.

 

The next hour was Perry’s biggest test of the week. His 5-iron tee shot on the 213-yard, par-3 16th hole plugged into the face of a greenside bunker.  “It was a bad club and a bad swing,” said Perry. “Had I known where I stood, I might have played a more conservative shot. I thought I needed to get the ball up and down from where I was. I got a bad bounce coming out of the bunker. The ball hit the fringe, which was actually dormant rough, and it spun back into the bunker. My next stroke went under the ball. I hit my next shot out of frustration to the back of the green and two-putted.”

 

After a birdie No. 17,  Perry said that he was in between clubs on his approach to 18. “I hit a baby pitching wedge, and I laid the sod right over the ball,” he said. Perry’s approach landed in a greenside bunker, from where he blasted to eight feet and two-putted. 

 

Last year should have been one of Perry’s most satisfying, but it turned sour when he failed to make the cut in six PGA Tour events, one of the benefits from winning the PGA Professional National Championship. 

 

“There’s no doubt I became a better player being around those guys, but not having any performances that were remotely close to what I consider acceptable, it was demoralizing,” said Perry. “So, I spent the last few months regrouping. I played with JC Anderson (of O’Fallon, Missouri) in the Senior-Junior Championship last week, and that really helped me. He watched me play and helped me with my wedge play – except for that last hole today.”       

 

The 62nd PGA Stroke Play Championship presented by Premier Golf and GOLF ADVISOR had a total purse of $53,410. 

 

The PGA Winter Championships conclude Feb. 10-13, with the 52nd PGA Match Play Championship on the Dye Course.

 

2015 PGA Winter Championships

62nd PGA Stroke Play Championship 

presented by Premier Golf and GOLF ADVISOR

Final Results

PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Ryder Course:  6,963 yards, Par-72

 

1. Rod Perry 68-69-67-72--276      $5,000.00

2. Bob Sowards 71-66-71-69--277       $3,000.00

3. Wyatt Worthington 72-72-67-68--279      $1,900.00

3. Ben Polland 71-66-73-69--279      $1,900.00

5. Charles Raulerson 72-72-68-70--282      $1,250.00

5. Patrick Rada 74-67-67-74--282      $1,250.00

7. Scott Berliner 73-73-67-70--283      $1,125.00

8. Brian Cairns 70-72-72-70--284      $1,090.00

8. Rich Berberian 69-70-71-74--284      $1,090.00

10. Shawn Warren 72-75-70-68--285      $1,030.00

10. Frank Bensel 73-73-70-69--285     $1,030.00

10. Christopher Marinaro 74-72-68-71--285      $1,030.00

10. Kirk Stauffer 70-71-72-72--285       $1,030.00

14. Rick Schuller 71-71-72-72--286        $930.00

14. Jerry Tucker 71-73-70-72--286       $930.00

14. Jason Martin 68-72-72-74--286      $930.00

14. Adam Rainaud 72-69-70-75--286      $930.00

14. Jeff Sorenson 68-71-71-76--286       $930.00

14. Patrick Steffes 71-70-65-80--286      $930.00

20. Jake Pleczkowski 72-72-70-73--287      $860.00

21. Mark Brown 72-72-67-77--288      $840.00

22. Kirk Hanefeld 71-73-70-75--289      $800.00

22. Brett Melton 72-72-69-76--289      $800.00

22. Kyle Baehler 69-71-70-79--289      $800.00

25. Jeffrey Martin 74-69-73-74--290     $726.00

25. Jaysen Hansen 80-70-70-70--290     $726.00

25. Liam Friedman 68-78-70-74--290     $726.00

25. Charles Meola 69-74-72-75--290     $726.00

25. Joshua Rackley 76-69-70-75--290     $726.00

30. JC Anderson 72-76-69-74--291      $672.50

30. Sonny Skinner 72-75-70-74--291      $672.50

32. Ryan Kalista 79-70-68-75--292      $650.00

33. Mike Thomas 72-75-72-74--293      $620.00

33. Ben Stewart 74-69-75-75--293     $620.00

33. Mitchell Camp 76-69-75-73--293      $620.00

36. Shaun Powers 75-71-72-76--294       $582.50

36. Dwayne Randall 72-72-72-78--294      $582.50

38. Colin Amaral 74-72-73-76--295      $537.50

38. Matt Noel 76-72-71-76--295       $537.50

38. Billy Anderson 70-75-70-80--295     $537.50

38. Larry Emery 77-74-73-71--295       $537.50

42. Nicholas Beddow 78-73-71-74--296      $490.00

42. David Allan 77-73-73-73--296      $490.00

42. Pete Catanzaro 75-76-73-72--296      $490.00

45. Matthew McAdow 74-77-70-76--297      $460.00

45. Frank Dully 76-70-77-74--297      $460.00

45. Grant Sturgeon 75-76-72-74--297      $460.00

48. Roy Vucinich 76-67-73-82--298      $420.00

48. Steve Barber 75-73-74-76--298      $420.00

48. Matthew Sita 74-72-70-82--298      $420.00

48. Bobby Heins 76-73-74-75--298      $420.00

48. Jamie Puterbaugh 78-73-77-70--298      $420.00

53. Rob Corcoran 74-71-73-81--299       $387.50

53. David Quinn 74-77-72-76--299      $387.50

55. Keith Grassing 74-72-73-81--300      $372.50

55. Anthony Aruta 73-76-73-78--300     $372.50

55. Remington Post 76-73-74-77--300     $372.50

55. Bill Sautter 72-77-77-74--300      $372.50

59. John Kerins 77-72-76-76--301       $360.00

60. Michael Zaremba 76-74-74-78--302     $347.50

60. Kyle Higgins 75-74-77-76--302      $347.50

60. Mark Anderson 75-75-76-76--302      $347.50

60. Devin Gee 75-76-75-76--302      $347.50

64. Michael O'Connor 79-72-73-79--303      $332.50

64. Joseph Moore 73-77-75-78--303      $332.50

66. Bob Dolan 77-74-74-79--304     $325.00

67. Nick Frontero 72-76-74-85--307     $317.50

67. Kevin Savage 75-76-81-75--307      $317.50

69. Andy Santor 78-73-79-79--309     $310.00

70. Mark Faulkner 72-77-74-89--312       $305.00