Tanner Johnson didn’t look at the leaderboard during the final round of the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 121st Amateur Championship on Tuesday.
His focus was on playing well and better than first-day leader and good friend Louis Olsakovsky, with whom he was paired.
Olsakovsky held a one-shot lead over Johnson when the round began, but bogeys on Nos. 13 and 17 and a double-bogey on No. 15 allowed Johnson to slide past for the win.
Johnson shot an even-par 71 to finish the 54-hole tournament at 5-under 208, at Indiana Country Club. He needed a birdie on No. 16 to secure a one-shot win against Matt Mattioli, who shot a his second consecutive 4-under round of 67 to finish at 209.
Mattioli said he posted his score an hour before Johnson finished. He watched from the porch as Johnson three-putted for par on No. 18.
“Tanner played well down the stretch,” Mattioli said. “One-under over the final three holes is impressive.”
The Fox Chapel native said his first nine holes of tournament, when he was 4-over, cost him.
“It’s bittersweet,” Mattioli said. “I knew there were low scores out there. I hit it well and putted well my final 45 holes. I stayed patient and let them come to me.”
Johnson said his brother, who served as his caddie, knew what Mattioli had posted and didn’t tell him until he asked on No. 17 tee.
“My focus was on Louis,” Johnson said. “My gameplan was try to put myself in position to make birdies and see what happened from there.
“I played in a lot of events against Louie. It was back-and-forth. I tried to make pars and force him to make mistakes, and I was able to capitalize on a couple.”
Jimmy Ellis, a Peters Township graduate like Johnson, finished third at 3-under. He shot a 67 during the final round.
Olsakovsky and Brett Young tied for fourth at 2-under. Olsakovsky, a Upper St. Clair grad, shot a 4-over 75.
Fox Chapel’s Scott Bitar was sixth at 1-under, followed by Pittsburgh’s Amani Dambrosio at even.
Tied for eighth were Ryan Peters, David Brown and Mike Wolfe. Tied for 11th were Sean Knapp, Jeff Mankins, Michael Marsico and Brady Pevarnik, finishing at 2-over.
“I’m super happy for Tanner,” Olsakovsky said. “We’ve playing against each other since age 8. We played a lot in high school, and he’s one of my good friends. It’s been a weird week. I hadn’t been playing well, but Monday it all came together.
“I felt a little lucky. I made a lot of putts, but during the final round they just didn’t drop. I didn’t hold up under pressure.”
Johnson said this was his biggest win of his career.
“I had a couple close calls in college (at Bowling Green),” Johnson said. “This is pretty special. You look at all the names on the trophy and all the good players in Western Pa., it’s a good feeling.”
The field was missing four of the top players — Mark Goetz, Palmer Jackson, Connor Schmidt and Jim Meyers — who are playing in the Southern Amateur, which begins Wednesday.
Those players will be back Monday to compete in the West Penn Open at Westmoreland Country Club.
That event is a 54 holes over three days.
Gee wins Falling Rocks Classic
Oakmont Country Club pro Devin Gee had two eagles, shot a 5-over 67 and breezed to a win at the Tri-State Section PGA Falling Rocks Classic at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort.
Dee finished the two-day event at 4-under 130.
Brett Carman finished second at 1-under 133, and Michael Gervais was third at even-par 134.
Rob McClellan was fourth at 1-over, and John Aber was fifth at 3-over.
