Walker wins Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship as rain washes out final round at Aronimink

   It looks like Wednesday’s final round of the 100^th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship was cancelled when the remnants of Hurricane Ida finally descended on Aronimink Golf Club with torrential downpours, among other issues.

   Brett Walker, an assistant pro at Sunnybrook Golf Club, captured the title on the strength of the 4-under-par 66 he fired at Aronimink, considered one of the finest works of legendary golf course architect Donald Ross, in Tuesday’s second round that gave him an 8-under 133 toral.

   The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship was presented by Cadillac, Club Car and Rolex.

   Walker had opened with a 4-under 67 at nearby Applebrook Golf Club, an early design by Gil Hanse, who did a comprehensive rehabilitation of Aronimink in advance of the 2018 BMW Championship.

    It looked for the longest time like the final round was going to get completed as the rain associated with Ida’s remnants kept hanging west of the Philadelphia area. Most of the day there was rainfall on the weather radar covering almost the entire state of Pennsylvania with the exception of a sliver of the southeast where Aronimink is located.

   I caught a snapshot of the live scoring after play had been suspended and it looked like Bidermann Golf Club instructor Zac Oakley, who began the day trailing Walker by two shots, had overtaken Walker and had a two-shot lead with three holes to play.

   Apparently returning to Aronimink Thursday to complete the final round was not an option, although there will be a playoff for the Philadelphia Section’s final four spots in next spring’s PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas.

   There were six players tied for ninth place at 1-over 142, so the playoff would be among that group. I was under the impression that only 11 players would advance to the PGA Professional Championship, but four more would bring the total to 12. Pretty sure there are some wild cards awarded to different Sections around the country.

   It would be great to see 60-something George Forster make it to the PGA Professional Championship. Forster was part of the group tied for ninth place at 142 as he carded a 1-over 72 at Applebrook Tuesday after matching par with a 70 at Aronimink in Monday’s opening round.

   Walker finished in a tie for fifth place in last year’s Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, earning a spot in last spring’s PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship qualify for the PGA Championship, one of golf’s four major professional championships for the men.

   And Walker got one of those tickets to the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course on the South Carolina coastline when he finished in a tie for eighth place at the PGA Golf Club.

   Oakley was probably a little disappointed that the final round was washed out, although his runnerup finish will still get him a trip to the PGA Professional Championship at Barton Creek next spring. I have to believe that Oakley’s dad, Peter, a dominant player in the Philadelphia Section for years had at least one victory in what used to be dubbed just the Philadelphia Section PGA Championship and I’m sure Zac Oakley would love to join his dad on the list of winners of the event.

   I should be able to do another post recapping all the qualifiers for the PGA Professional Championship, but Billy Stewart, an instructor at Union League Liberty Hill, finished in third place, three shots behind Oakley, and earned a ticket to Barton Creek. Stewart, a product of the junior program at Llanerch Country Club, won the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship in 2018.

   Overbrook Golf Club assistant pro Ashley Grier, who finished in fourth place, a shot behind Stewart with a 2-under 139 total, will return to the PGA Professional Championship. Two years ago, Grier and Joanna Coe, an instructor at Baltimore Country Club, became the first two women to survive two cuts and play four rounds in the PGA Professional Championship at Belfair in Bluffton, S.C.

   Applebrook head pro Dave McNabb, who finished in a tie for fifth place at 1-under 140, will also return to the PGA Professional Championship, an event he nearly won in 2017 when he fell in a playoff with former PGA Tour performer Omar Uresti at the Sunriver Resort in Oregon.

   The Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship is supported by Titleist/FootJoy, Nike, TaylorMade, The Golf Channel, the PGA Tour, Ship Sticks, Visit Delco, Pa. and Precise Yardage Books.