Egloff defends his title with dramatic two hole playoff win over Sisk September 25th by Dom Dastoli
Rockport, ME-Eric Egloff defended his Samoset Open title as he defeated Geoff Sisk with a par on the second playoff hole. Egloff carded a final round of 1-under par 69 to make up a one stroke deficit on Sisk, who bogied the difficult par 4, 18th hole to fall back into a tie with Egloff at 9-under par 201. Corey Harris and Scott Hawley finished tied for third, five shots back at 4-under par. Billy Downes finished one shot further back in fifth place after a closing 2-over par 72. “I felt a little bit nervous before I teed off,” admitted Egloff, who promptly proceeded to stiff a gap wedge to a foot for a birdie on the opening par 4, 1st hole to seize a share of the lead. “But that settled me down.” After pars on two and three, Egloff then reached the par 5, 4th hole in two with a three iron and knocked home the eagle putt to take one shot lead over Sisk, who made birdie. Sisk then recorded a bogey on the par 4, 5th hole to fall two behind. Both players then made pars on the final four holes of the front. On the par 4, 10th hole, Egloff hit his drive into the right rough. Expecting his ball to come out hot, instead, it came out soft and went into the greenside water. He then took a drop and hit his next shot into another hazard. After finally pitching onto the green, he made a seven footer for triple bogey. Egloff then made a bogey on the par 4, 11th hole to fall three strokes behind. He never considered himself out of it though, saying, “I just tried to stay positive. I just tried to chip away at it.” Confident he could rally, he then notched birdies on the 12th and 14th holes to climb to within one shot of Sisk, who held that same margin as both players arrived on the tee of the treacherous 478 yard, par 4, 18th hole. Egloff’s drive wound up in the right rough, 205 yards from the green, which is surrounded by water on the left and in front. Geoff drove down the middle and, playing first, flared his approach just to the right of the green. Egloff, then, struck his 3-iron to within 30 feet of the flag. Later, he called that shot, “the best shot I’ve ever played in competition in that situation.” After Sisk failed to get up and down for par, Egloff two-putted for par, leaving the two tied at 9-under par after regulation. On the first playoff hole, the 18th, both players were forced to lay up short of the green, with Egloff striking his third shot to within six feet while Sisk left himself twenty feet for par. Sisk then canned his lengthy par putt to put the pressure squarely on Egloff, who calmly knocked home his par putt. On the second playoff hole, the par 4, first hole, Sisk again had the advantage as Egloff hit his tee shot in the left rough. Neither player was accurate with their approach though, as Sisk left himself about 35 feet for par, with Egloff just inside of him on the same line. Faced with a slippery putt, Sisk knocked his birdie bid 12 feet past the hole. Egloff, meanwhile, carefully studied the line. “I had a good look off his putt,” he said. “It was definitely an advantage. It was a hard putt to judge.” After studying Sisk’s putt, Egloff hit his approach to twelve inches and made par. Sisk then missed his par putt, giving Egloff his second consecutive win in this event as well as his second career win on this tour. Following his playoff win, Egloff was both excited about the win and appreciative of the standard Sisk has set for the tour. “To go up against him and beat him, it gives me a lot confidence. His record speaks for itself. He sets the standard for us. I feel like I’m ready to carry on and take it to a higher level.” Even in defeat, Sisk expressed satisfaction with the progression of his game following a missed cut in the previous Cleveland event. “I’m happy with the way I played this week,” he said. I hit good golf shots. I did what I could to try and win this golf tournament.” With the win, Egloff collected $12,700 and climbed to fourth on the money list. |
