Sunnehanna Country Club head professional Jason Martin was 1-over par through his first eight holes of the final round of the Tri-State PGA Open on Tuesday.
But the first-round co-leader wasn’t getting pushed by amateur Jake Sollon, who was at 4-over par, or any other golfer in the field.
Then, Martin found his stroke.
The Morgantown, W.Va. native played the final 10 holes at 6-under par and pulled away for a five-shot victory at Chartiers Country Club.
“The golf course was a tremendous challenge for two days; the wind added an element to it, and the greens were super fast,” Martin said. “There were a lot of great players out here, so I was very fortunate to have two good days where I struck the ball nice and I putted good.
“That’s it for me, if I drive it the way I normally do and I roll some putts in, I’m very confident I can win. I haven’t done whole a lot of it, but hopefully this will be the turn to the good.”
He finished the two-day event with a 7-under par 133, shooting a 4-under 66 on the final day. He birdied the final two holes to close out the round.
Martin and Sollon began the final round at 3-under, but Sollon, a Peters Township grad and Towson University senior, started slowly. He hit a shot out of bounds on No. 2, took a double-bogey and couldn’t recover.
@TriStatePGA @EZGOvehicles Jason Martin has birdied the last 4 holes. Holds the lead on the back nine. #tspga pic.twitter.com/p9brz0C96p
— Tri-State PGA (@TriStatePGA) June 4, 2019
He finished second and was the top amateur in the field.
While the rest of the field was struggling with the difficult course, Martin was not. He carded 13 birdies, including eight during the final round and four consecutive (9-12).
Martin was motivated by a disappointing finish at the PGA Professional National Championship when he missed a short putt that would have qualified for the PGA Championship.
“I lost in a playoff, but I took a lot of confidence from there back here,” Martin said. “I kept the ball below the cup. You couldn’t get above the hole.”
Martin has a busy two weeks and he prepares the course for the 66th Sunnehanna Amateur.
“We have about 103 players, so I have to get back to set things up,” Martin said. “It’s exciting.”
Sollon said Martin played extremely well and would have been tough to beat even if he played well.
“Once I knew I couldn’t win, I just wanted to finish strong,” Sollon said. “I did that, so that should hep me. I proved to myself I could play with some of the top players in the area.”
Sollon was one of five Peters Township grads to play in the tournament. The others were Jimmy Ellis, who tied for third at even par; Hunter Bruce, who tied for 24th; and Alec Stopperich and Tanner Johnson, who tied for 30th.
There were four players who tied for third at even par — Ellis, Jason Robinson, Gene Walter and amateur Justin Griffith.
Allegheny pro John Aber tied for seventh with amateur Rick Stimmel at 1-over. Aber was the senior event winner.
