Glover Park Tour
Hasny Wins Langston By a Lip-Out
As he stood on the 18th green on Sunday, Tom Hasny knew he had to dodge one more bullet to claim his first victory of the 2016 GPT season, and he was breathing much easier after Rich Deixler lipped out a par putt to tie it from 7 feet.
Hasny carded a solid 84 to win the WGC Breadsoda event at Langston by one stroke and hoist the coveted giant purple ashtray.
A missed par-putt on the last hole gave Deixler, who won Kapalua earlier this year, a second place finish.
Rounding out the top three was David Coppins, who shot an 86, and has now come tantalizing close to the winner’s circle in back-to-back tournaments.
Perhaps the biggest surprise on Sunday, though, was the play of the old veteran, Sam Sacks who carded an 87 and finished in the top 5 for the first time in as long as people can remember. Dusting off the ol’ “stack and tilt” swing that won him a GPT championship in ’10, Sacks was in the hunt on the back nine, but got derailed on the Par 5 16th hole after putting two shots in the woods.
It was a tough day, meanwhile, for GPT board member Sean McElhaney, who finished in seventh place with a 94. McElhaney was forced to take a 2-stroke penalty after his round, following some controversy on hole 1.
Distracted by loud chatter of a fellow golfer on tour (who shall go unnamed so as not to impugn any gentleman’s integrity), McElhaney nearly whiffed his opening tee shot, hitting a topped dribbler a few feet in front him. Rather than playing on McElhaney inexplicably took a mulligan and re-teed it up without taking a stroke—a violation of GPT rules.
“It was a lapse in judgment,” McElhaney admitted after the round, accepting the two-stroke penalty.
No rest for the weary on the GPT tour. Golfers head to Falls Road next week for the last tune-up tournament before the Masters.