Litchfield, NH-Shannon Sykora fired a 3-under par 68 in the final round of the Passaconaway Open for a 15-under par total and a  three shot victory over a charging Noah Zelnik, who closed with a catch up round of 5-under par 66 to finish at 12-under par. David Schuster and Sean O’Hair finished one shot further back at 11-under par. Defending champion Corey Harris carded a 4-under par 67 and finished tied for 5^th place with a host of players that included first round leader Eric Egloff.

            Following consecutive bogies on four and five, Sykora rebounded with an eagle on the par four, seventh hole and a birdie on the 9th to make the turn in 2-under par “It all fell together,” said Sykora, who shook off a disappointing bogey on the 16^th hole with a miraculous birdie from the trees on the 17^th hole to seal the victory worth $11,800.

            “It couldn’t have been a better week for me,” he said. Not far removed from an injury that resulted in surgery, Sykora seemed almost as equally shocked as he was satisfied to have finally won a tournament again. “I can’t believe I’ve finally won.”

            Despite a slow start with a bogey on one, Zelnik took advantage of a comfortable pairing with Eric Egloff and Geoff Sisk en route to carding six birdies on the day, including four in a six hole stretch beginning at the 6^th hole. “I knew I had to make a charge,” said Zelnik, who has now recorded back to back top 4 finishes following last week’s performance in the Greater Portland Open.

            O’Hair’s third straight round in the 60’s resulted in his third top three finish of the season on the Cleveland Golf Tour. “I just wanted to get to double digits under par,” said O’Hair, who accomplished that objective and could have prevailed were it not for eight putts missed from within 10 feet. “I could have easily shot 62 today,” he said.

            Syokra’s victory follows triumphs by Geoff Sisk in the Atkinson Open and Kyle Gallo in the Vermont National Open. Next on the schedule is the Lebaron Hills Open in Lakeville, MA. The first round begins this coming Tuesday.