Dave McNabb, the head pro at Applebrook Golf Club, heads a
foursome of Philadelphia Section PGA pros in the hunt for a berth in next
spring’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship as they tee off for Sunday’s final
round of the Senior PGA Professional Championship, supported by GolfAdvisor.com
and John Deere, at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
McNabb, the winner of the Philadelphia Senior PGA
Championship in August at White Manor Country Club, carded a 1-under 71 at the
Wanamaker Course in Saturday’s third round and is in excellent position to
finish among the top 35 who qualify for the Senior PGA Championship, a PGA Tour
Champions major which tees off May 23 at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford,
N.Y. McNabb is among the group tied for 14th at 5-under 211.
John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at
Woodloch Springs, and Dave Quinn of Philmont Country Club are among the group
tied for 35th and a solid final round would earn them a ticket to
Oak Hill. Brian Kelly of the Bucknell Golf Club is outside the top 35 in a tie
for 46th, but a berth in the Senior PGA Championship is certainly
within his grasp.
Had a chance to chat with Pillar as we followed his son Alex,
a senior at Wallenpaupack, during the PIAA Class AAA East Regional a couple of
weeks ago at Golden Oaks Golf Club and he indicated he had been forced to take
a little time off to deal with a nagging injury. He matched par Saturday and is
at 1-under 215 going into the final round.
Quinn posted a 1-over 73 and is also at 1-under 215 after
three rounds. Kelly carded a solid 1-under 71 to get it to 1-over 217,
comfortably inside the cut to the low 70 and ties and within range of punching
his ticket to Oak Hill.
McNabb had an up-and-down front nine with birdies at the
first and second holes, a bogey at the third, a birdie at the fourth and bogeys
at the sixth and seventh. Birdies at 11 and 15 got him to 2-under before he
surrendered a shot with a bogey at the 17th.
The same three players who shared the lead after the opening
round after each blitzed the Ryder Course with an 8-under 64 are tied for the
lead heading into the final round.
Dan Olsen, an assistant pro at Quail Creek Country Club in
Robinson, Ill., had inched in front with a 5-under 67 at the Wanamaker Course
Friday, but could only match par on the same track Saturday to come in at
13-under 203.
Omar Uresti of Austin, Texas, the former PGA Tour pro who
defeated Applebrook’s McNabb in a playoff for the title in 2017 PGA
Professional Championship at the Sunriver Resort in Oregon, posted a 2-under 70
to also land on 13-under 203.
Bob Sowards, the director of instruction at the Kinsale Golf
& Fitness Center in Powell, Ohio, signed for a 1-under 71 to round out the
trio at 13-under.
Brad Lardon of The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, N.M.,
Mark Tucker of Cazenovia Country Club in Cazenovia, N.Y. and two-time Senior
PGA Professional Championship winner Mike San Filippo of Hobe Sound, Fla. are
tied for third, each at 9-under 207, four shots behind the three co-leaders.
Lardon moved up the leaderboard with a sparkling 5-under 67,
Tucker posted a 1-under 71 and San Filippo matched par with a 72.
The best round of the day belonged to 58-year-old Gene
Fieger, an instructor at Club Pelican Bay in Naples, Fla. who dominated the
Philadelphia Section in the 1990s when he was an assistant pro at Overbrook
Golf Club.
Fieger, the 2013 Senior PGA Professional Championship
winner, had a very efficient six-birdie, no-bogey 6-under 66 to move into a tie
for seventh at 8-under 208. Fieger was joined at that figure by Walt Chapman, an
instructor at the Fairways and Greens Golf Center in Knoxville, Tenn. who fired
a pretty nifty 5-under 67 himself Saturday.
One other familiar name still in with a shot to make it to
Oak Hill is Charlie Bolling, a Philadelphia area native who is listed as playing
out of the Metropolitan Section. Bolling had scorched the Wanamaker Course with
a 5-under 67 in Friday’s second round, but couldn’t maintain that momentum,
posting a 3-over 75 that left him among the group tied for 56th at
2-over 218.
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