Mike O’Toole, Riverside Golf Academy, began round two of the Indiana PGA Senior Professional Championship two shots behind first round leader, Chris Smith of Peru and one shot back to Dave Carich of Harbour Trees Golf Club.
With strong opening nines, all three players in our lead group made the turn at 2-under-par for the day. Smith sat at -6 for the tournament, followed by Carich at -5 and O’Toole at -4.
Carding a tremendous five birdies in his next six holes, O’Toole surged to the top of the leaderboard heading to the par-3, 15th with a two-shot lead at -8.
“I don’t remember much of it, but I knew with the guys I was playing against I had to keep going,” O’Toole said. “It was definitely one of the better stretches of golf I’ve ever had.”
With an up-and-down save on 15, O’Toole’s lead became three as Smith and Carich made three-putt bogeys to fall to -5 and -4. O’Toole finished his round with pars on 16 and 17 and a birdie on 18 to capture his second Senior Professional Championship title (previous win in '18) with a 36-hole total of 9-under-par, 135.
“The mission is always to make it to the National Championship,” O’Toole said. “I never know exactly how my game is going to be week to week, but I’m feeling good. I’m really looking forward to heading to Florida and enjoying some good competition."
O’Toole will represent Indiana at the 2020 Senior PGA Professional National Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. on Oct. 15-18. Joining O’Toole will be Chris Smith, Peru, Dave Carich, Harbour Trees G&CC, Todd Sandow, Sycamore Golf Club, and Rick Witt, The Bridgewater Club.