Oakley prevails in a playoff over Walker in Event No. 3 of the PGA Tournament Series at the PGA Golf Club

    Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, and Brett Walker, an assistant pro at Sunnybrook Golf Club, just keep running into each other on the golf course these last few months.

   It happened again this week at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie as Oakley, the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Rolex Haverford Trust Player of the Year in 2021, had to drain a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole at the Wanamaker Course Tuesday to beat, who else, Walker in a playoff to win Event No. 3 in the PGA Tournament Series.

   Oakley had carded a 2-under-par 70 in Monday’s opening round, but the putter that fueled his Player of the Year run all summer in the Philadelphia area heated up again in Tuesday’s second round. He had four birdies and an eagle in his first eight holes on his way to a sizzling 8-under 64 that gave him a 10-under 134 total.

   The eagle came at the par-5 seventh hole as he drilled a 3-iron to 20 feet and holed the putt. Oakley had three more birdies on the back nine to offset his only mistake of the day, a bogey at the par-3 17^th hole.

   Walker, playing three groups behind Oakley, stumbled early with a double bogey at the par-3 sixth hole. But, like Oakley, Walker eagled the par-5 seventh hole and got it going on the back nine with four birdies, including one at the par-5 16^th, that enabled him to catch Oakley with a sparkling 6-under 66 of his own.

   Walker had registered a 4-under 68 in Monday’s opening round and he also landed on 10-under 134 to join Oakley atop the leaderboard. As for Oakley’s winning birdie try on the first hole of the playoff …

   “As soon as I hit it, I knew it was in,” Oakley told the PGA of America website. “I finally made some putts today. I didn’t make anything (Monday). I knew I was hitting it good. It was just a matter of time.”

   Oakley is spending the winter hanging out in Palm City, Fla. and caddying at the iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., the Donald Ross masterpiece that played host to the Walker Cup Match in May. Makes me wonder if Seminole has some kind of player-ability test in order to loop there.

   I can only imagine that conversation: Player: Do you play? Oakley: Yeah, I was the Player of the Year in the Philadelphia Section PGA. Player: Nice.

   Pretty sure Palm City is the home base these days for Oakley’s dad, Peter, who was a dominant player in the Philadelphia Section in the 1980s and stunned the golf world – at least the golf world outside the Philadelphia area – when he won The Senior Open Championship in 2004 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Zac probably has to give dad a couple of shots a side and make six birdies just to break even these days.

   Zac Oakley also won the DeBaufre Trophy, which goes to the player with the lowest scoring average in the Philadelphia Section Rolex points events, a trophy on which his dad’s name appears four times. Zac Oakley’s 68.93 average was the lowest in the history of the award. Walker was the runnerup with a none-too-shabby 69.3 average.

   Walker wintered in the pro shop at the John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla. last year and won the PGA Stroke Play Championship at the PGA Golf Club in February. Back at the PGA Golf Club in April, Walker finished in a tie for eighth place in the PGA Professional Championship, which punched his ticket to the PGA Championship, one of professional golf’s four major championships, in May at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course along the South Carolina coast.

   Zac Oakley and Walker went head-to-head in the 100^th Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, which was scheduled to conclude Sept. 1 at Aronimink Golf Club, another Donald Ross classic.

   Walker had a two-shot lead on Oakley after two rounds at Aronimink and nearby Applebrook Golf Club heading into the final round. With the remnants of Hurricane Ida bearing down on the region, Oakley caught Walker and had a two-shot lead with four holes to play when the skies opened up. The final round was ultimately washed out and the tournament reverted back to where it stood after 36 holes, giving Walker the victory.

   Less than a week later on the day after Labor Day, there they were again on the 18^th green at Sunnybrook, where Walker works, involved in a playoff with Parks Price, an instructor at the Country Club of York, with a cool $100,000 on the line.

   That’s the top prize for the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic, the richest prize offered in any PGA Section tournament in the country and Walker, Oakley and Price were in a playoff after each landed on 4-under 68 for the regulation 18 holes.

   Price went first as he was farthest from the hole, 25 feet, and he just buried his birdie try. Oakley would miss from 20 feet and Walker’s bid from 12 feet wouldn’t fall and the big prize went to Price.

   Only a shot separated Oakley and Walker in last month’s National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship, also staged at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course.

   Oakley matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish among the group tied for 10^th place at 3-under 285 and Walker closed with a 73 to end up in a tie for 13^th at 2-under 286.

   That 1-2 finish in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship earned Walker and Oakley a trip to next April’s PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas. The goal there will be to finish inside the top 20 and earn a trip to next May’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

   Jake Scott of Strongsville, Ohio and Ben Kern, the director of golf at Georgetown Country Club in Texas, finished three shots out of the playoff in a tie for third place, each ending up with a 7-under 137 total.

   Scott, who has spent time on the Korn Ferry Tour and Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada in recent years, added a 69 to his opening round of 4-under 68. Scott was the winner in Event No. 1 of the PGA Tournament Series and finished in a tie for second in Event No. 2.

   Kern of Round Rock, Texas had opened with a 5-under 67 before adding a 70 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Steve Delmar of Gaithersburg, Md., an assistant coach for Maryland’s men’s golf team, was another shot behind Scott and Kern in fifth place with a 6-under 138 total.