The Union League Golf Club at Torresdale exacted a little
revenge on Glen Brook Golf Club pro Alex Knoll Thursday, but the 34-year-old
Knoll held on to capture the title in the 98th Philadelphia PGA
Professional Championship.
Knoll had blitzed the Donald Ross classic with a
course-record 8-under-par 62 in Tuesday’s opening round and opened up a big
lead, which he maintained with a solid 2-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round
at Riverton Country Club.
Knoll struggled mightily, particularly on the Torresdale
front nine, but his final round of 8-over 78, 16 shots higher than the round
that beat Sam Snead’s 78-year-old course record by two shots, was good enough
to give him the title and the $9,500 top prize by two shots. Knoll was the only
player in the field to finish under par with a 2-under 209 total.
Stonewall head pro Ryan Lagergren, who started the day in
third place, six shots behind Knoll, made up four shots on the leader with a
4-over 74 to claim runnerup honors at even-par 211.
I’m around Stonewall a lot these days and the 40-year-old Lagergren,
like many club pros, is involved in every aspect of the golf operation at the
twin gems in northwest Chester County. He comes to work every day with the goal
of making the experience of playing at Stonewall as good as it can possibly be.
And he gives lessons. And he runs junior clinics. And sometimes he has to deal
with the caddies.
What he doesn’t get to do a lot is play golf. But Lagergren
proved this week that he can play a little and the trip he earned to the Omni
Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas next April for the PGA
Professional Championship is a nice reward for all the hard work he does at
Stonewall.
Lagergren surged into contention with a sparkling 7-under 64
at Riverton in Wednesday’s second round.
Neither Knoll, who was protecting a five-shot lead, nor
Lagergren played the front nine particularly well in the final round.
Knoll made a bogey at the second hole, a double bogey at the
fifth and bogeys at the sixth, seventh and ninth holes, going from 10-under to
4-under real fast.
Lagergren couldn’t gain much ground on him, though. After
bogeys at the first and fourth holes, Lagergren made birdie at the fifth hole.
But he followed that up with a bogey at the sixth, a double bogey at the
seventh and bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes. He turned for home at 2-over
for the tournament.
Lagergren righted the ship with birdies at the 10th
and 11th holes that got him back to even and parred in.
Knoll, too, saw the value in par on the incoming nine. He
made bogeys at the 16th and 17th holes, but he, too, made
seven pars on the back nine to keep Lagergren and the rest of the field at bay.
After making seven birdies and an eagle in the opening round, Knoll’s final
round was birdie-free. Strange game, this golf.
Travis Deibert of Doylestown Country Club made four birdies
on that same back nine on his way to a final round of 1-over 71 that left him
alone in third place, a shot behind Lagergren at 2-over 212.
Tom Cooper of Pine Valley Golf Club seemed to be playing a
different golf course than most of the rest of the field as he made six birdies
against three bogeys for a 3-under 67 that sent him surging up the leaderboard
into fourth place, a shot behind Deibert at 2-over 213.
Brendon Post, an assistant coach and director of player
development for the Delaware golf program, was Knoll’s closest pursuer at the
beginning of the day. But playing in the final group with Knoll and Lagergren,
Post struggled to a 78 and shared fifth place with Mark Sheftic, the head of
instruction at Merion Golf Club, at 3-over 214.
Sheftic, who has a nice record in the PGA Professional
Championship, got it into red figures at Torresdale Thursday with a 1-under 69
to get his share of fifth place at 3-over.
A couple of the Philadelphia Section’s spectacular seniors,
Stu Ingraham, an instructor at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, and Terry
Hertzog of the Country Club of York, headed up a trio of players tied for
seventh at 4-under 215.
Ingraham, whose appearance in next spring’s PGA Professional
Championship will be his 32nd in a PGA of America championship,
bounced back from a 76 at Torresdale with a solid 1-over 71 in the final round.
Hertzog, a three-time winner of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship,
closed with a 3-over 73.
Ingraham and Hertzog were joined at 4-over by Whitemarsh
Valley Country Club head pro Dave Padgett, who finished up with a 1-over 71
Thursday.
One of the final two tickets to the PGA Professional
Championship went to another of the Section’s senior standouts, John Pillar,
the director of golf at the Country Club of Woodloch Springs who finished in a
tie for 10th place with Davis Jensen, another representative out of
the pro shop at Merion, at 5-over 216.
Pillar, who closed with a solid 2-over 72, won the
Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship last month at Applebrook Golf
Club. He’ll get a look at the Omni Barton Creek layout in a couple of weeks
when the course also plays host to the Senior PGA Professional Championship. Hertzog
will also represent the Philadelphia Section next month at Omni Barton Creek.
Jensen matched Cooper for the low round of the day with a
sparkling 3-under 67 that will send him to Austin next spring.
The PGA Professional Championship is presented by Cadillac,
Club Car and Omega. Supporting sponsors include Titleist/Footjoy, Nike and
TaylorMade Golf.
The top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship
earn a ticket to the PGA Championship, which will be played next May at TPC
Harding Park in San Francisco. It is a path that Ingraham has taken six times to
one of golf’s four major professional championships and Sheftic has made it to
the PGA Championship three times.
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