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Playoff Power: Harris birdies 18th in playoff to stave off Hallett
Cranston,RI-Corey Harris captured the Cranston Open over Jim Hallett with a dramatic 15 foot birdie putt on the first sudden death playoff hole. Two-time player of the year Geoff Sisk rallied with a final day 4-under par 67 to finish in solo third, just one shot back. Eli Zackheim claimed fourth place with a closing 70 while Sean O’Hair, Eric Egloff and Chris Damiano tied for fifth place. “This is a lot sweeter than the one last year,” said Harris, who prevailed despite a bogey on the closing par 4,18th hole. Admittedly, his “confidence wasn’t very good coming in here,” but he credited the addition of a new driver, combined with a timely swing lesson from Jeff Seavey, as a major reason why he captured his second Cleveland title in as many years. While overnight leader Christian Bartolacci was struggling to a final round 79, Harris and Hallett were waging a tight back nine battle. Standing on the 11th tee, Harris saw Hallett hole a 9 iron from 141 yards on the par 3, 12th hole for the ninth ace of his career and thought to himself, “Ugh oh, here we go.” Using that as motivation, Harris responded with a birdie on the par 5, 13th hole then reeled off four consecutive pars to take a one shot lead over Hallett, who made an unfortunate bogey on the par 5, 17th. With Hallett in the clubhouse one shot back at 6-under par, Harris hit a poor chip shot from the back of the 18th green then missed a five foot putt for par to fall back into a tie. Heading back to 18 for the first playoff hole, Hallett stuck his approach to 20 feet, with Harris just inside of him. Hallett’s putt was online but short, and he settled for par. Harris then stepped up to his putt and calmly sank the clinching birdie. Despite the disappointing conclusion, Hallett admitted he “was having fun.” “I like being in the heat,” he added. “It’s been a long time.” With the victory, Harris lays claim to the winner’s check of $12,500, the richest prize in Cleveland Golf Tour history. |
