Austin Murphy and Sahith Theegala had huge third rounds at Sherwood County Club to make big moves up the final leaderboard, but RJ Manke maintained his lead to claim the individual title at the Waves’ first tournament of this History Maker Golf simulation. Manke shot a 19-under 197 to beat Clay Feagler by three strokes.
Leaderboard: 1. RJ Manke 197 (61-67-69); 2. Clay Feagler 200 (68-64-68); T3. Joe Highsmith 203 (70-67-66); T3. Sahith Theegala 203 (76-65-62); 5. Derek Hitchner 206 (73-65-68); 6. Joey Vrzich 207 (66-73-68); 7. Joshua McCarthy 209 (69-69-71); T8. Johnny Mac Arthur 210 (70-68-72); T8. Frederick Wedel 210 (73-68-69); T8. Austin Murphy 210 (74-74-62); T11. Kevin DeHuff 211 (69-70-72), T11. Roy Cootes 211 (68-74-69); T11. Cody McManus 211 (74-70-67); 14. Andrew Putnam 213 (76-67-70); 15. William Mouw 215 (78-70-67); 16. Josh Anderson 218 (73-70-75).
- Manke began the final round with a four-shot lead over Feagler. When Feagler bogeyed the first hole, it was a bad sign for a comeback. Manke’s lead grew to seven at the turn, though Feagler had a big back nine to close the gap a bit. Manke and Feagler were the only two golfers to post scores in the 60s all three rounds.
- Murphy and Theegala both shot 10-under 62s. Both golfers posted 11 birdies and one bogey. Murphy began the day tied for last place but moved up to a tie for eighth. Theegala was next-to-last after the first round, but rose to a tie for third after much better scores.
- Unlike the first two rounds, no one was bogey-free, and no eagles were scored. But, the course played easy and only one Wave finished above par in the third round.
- Highsmith, who finished third, was at even-par after 12 holes but birdied each of the final six holes. Theegala almost had as good of a finish, birdying five of the last six.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 