Defending Champion Brett Widner leads the field after firing
a 4-under-par, 66 at Tippecanoe Lake CC during the opening round of the IGA
Mid-Amateur Championship. A one shot
lead over Fort Wayne’s Joe Hayden and Pendleton’s Ricky Jones separates Widner
from a Mid-Am repeat heading to the final round tomorrow.
“I bogeyed my first hole of the day (10), but bounced back
with birdies on holes 16 and 17,” said Widner of Avon, Ind. “Driving the ball well is the key to my game
and I was able to hit the ball really straight today putting myself in good
positions.”
Widner carded six birdies today on holes 4, 6, 7, 9, 16, and
18, all par-4s, to give himself a second look at victory.
“I try not to set goals about winning events,” Widner
said. “If I continue to drive the ball
well I should be able to keep myself in it. I worked on my game a lot last year and have
had a lot of success recently. It would
be great to keep the momentum going and go out and win tomorrow.”
Hayden, a three-time winner of the Tournament of Champions,
also finds himself in contention after carding an impressive nine birdies
during today’s round.
“I had one terrible hole where I made a nine (18), but I
bounced back making six birdies on the front side,” Hayden said. “I kept the ball in play and I hit a lot of
great second shots. I like the position
I’m in and I feel comfortable being in contention. With the strong field at
this event, it will definitely take two great rounds to win.”
Jones, also just one shot back, played consistently on the
front nine carding nine pars in a row.
“After nine holes, I got tired of making pars,” Jones
said. “I decided to be aggressive on the
par-5, 14th because I knew I could carry the water. I hit a good tee shot and hit my 9-iron to
three feet and sunk the putt for eagle.
I didn’t get as many putts to fall as I would have liked and felt
like I was just inches away from today being an outstanding round. I hope I’m able to make more putts tomorrow
and give myself a chance.”
Mike Bell of Indianapolis, Mike Cline of Carmel, and Curt
Puckett of Farmland fired 2-under-par, 68s and head to the final round two
shots back.