The best round by any player this season came in the final round of the event at the PGA West Stadium Course, as an incredible 12-under 60 by Joshua McCarthy took him from six shots back to a four-shot win, his first of the season.
Remarkably, McCarthy had three eagles on par-5s to go with seven birdies, and he made just one bogey. On the six holes between holes 7-12, he had five birdies and one eagle to go from three shots back to four in the lead, and he cruised from there.
McCarthy became the sixth different winner in seven tournaments and denied Joe Highsmith a three-peat.
Pepperdine Golf Tour Home Page
Leaderboard: 1. Joshua McCarthy 200 (69-71-60); 2. Roy Cootes 204 (73-64-67); 3. Joe Highsmith 206 (69-65-72); 4. Clay Feagler 207 (69-69-69); T5. Sahith Theegala 208 (68-73-67); T5. Derek Hitchner 208 (71-69-68); 7. RJ Manke 210 (66-74-70); 8. William Mouw 211 (72-68-71); 9. Austin Murphy 212 (72-69-71); 10. Joey Vrzich 215 (76-73-66); 11. Andrew Putnam 216 (71-74-71); 12. Cody McManus 217 (73-72-72); T13. Josh Anderson 219 (71-76-72); T13. Frederick Wedel 219 (73-69-77); 15. Kevin DeHuff 220 (74-73-73); 16. Johnny Mac Arthur 225 (76-71-78).
- McCarthy’s been on a tear and finally broke through after second and third-place finishes in the last two events.
- At second place, Cootes had his best finish of the season, making the top five for just the second time.
- Highsmith came into the final round with a three-shot lead but couldn’t ever get going and shot even-par. He had three birdies, but followed each one with a bogey. Still, he continued a streak that has him 7-for-7 with top-five finishes.
- Vrizch entered the day in last place but a 6-under 66, the second-best score of the final round, helped him move up to 10th.
- McCarthy had three of the six eagles in the final round, with Hitchner, Vrzich and Cootes collecting the other three.
- The final round played a bit easier than the first two, with the 16 golfers averaging 70.3 strokes and 10 of them finishing below-par on the day.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 