Bobby Wards Wins 1991 Hall of Fame Classic
Fayetteville, NC - Bobby Ward
spent Saturday evening relaxing, having fun with his friends
preparing for Sunday's final four rounds of the $10,000 Professional
Putters Association Hall of Fame Classic.
No need to worry, he figured.
Thirteen golfers and eight strokes stood between him and first-day
leader Bill Smith.
"We just sat around and played
some cards," said Ward, a 28-year-old insurance salesman from
Martinez, Ga. "Realistically, I didn't think I had a chance to come
back."
He changed his mind Sunday,
shooting rounds of 28, 27 and 26 to finish with a six-round total of
169, 47 under par and good enough to win a first-place prize of
$1,500 in the first major tournament of the PPA season.
Randy Orr of Atlanta was
runner-up with a 169. Smith struggled to a 35 on course No. 1 Sunday
and finished in a tie for eighth place with a 176.
Bill Kirby, Jr. led four
Fayetteville participants with a 179.
Ward failed to ace the first five
holes in round No. 4, but treated a crowd of about 100 people at the
Owen Drive course to nine straight aces and began his charge up the
leader board.
"I missed my first five holes ..
but from there they just all seemed to go in," Ward said. "I made
them when it mattered."
It mattered most in the final
five holes of round six. Ward made par two on No. 13 and held the
lead with a 43 under, but Orr was playing several holes behind him
and working on a streak of his own.
Ward added to his lead, hitting
four aces in the last five holes before standing aside as 12 golfers
chased his 47-under total.
Orr needed to finish with five
straight aces for a tie, but instead made Ward a winner when a putt
on No. 15 slid left of the hole. Orr settled for par, and Ward began
accepting handshakes near the clubhouse.
"I didn't even know how close
Bobby was until the last round," Orr said. "I usually don't like to
look at the scores. I did this time, and I think it kind of got to
me. I told myself I just had to ace out."
Michael Foster won the amateur
division with a 176, five strokes ahead of William Ralph.
"I felt real good at the end,"
said Foster, a 36-year-old from High Point. Foster had a six on hole
No. 7 en route to a fourth-round 35, but recovered with a 27 and 29.
"The middle course (No. 2) is the
course where you can really move," Foster said. Ralph agreed.
Leading Foster by three strokes
after the fourth round, he saw his lead quickly disappear. "Michael
was pretty much hitting everything," Ralph said. "He shot very
well."
Scores and Article provided by Brian Dulay (staff writer)
and the Fayetteville Observer-Times (April 29th, 1991 edition)..
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