Danny McCaslin Wins 1996 Commissioner's Cup
Augusta, GA - Danny McCaslin of Metairie, LA, aced the 18th and final hole Sunday, May 19th to win the $10,000 PPA Commissioner's Cup by one stroke over Greg Ward.
After 107 holes, McCaslin and Ward, of Norcross, GA, were tied. With Ward amd the crowd looking on, McCaslin banked his 21-foot putt off the rail and over a hill for the winning putt.
"I was really nervous down the stretch," said McCaslin, who picked up $1,800 in prize money. "There was pressure holding the putter, but sometimes when there's a lot of pressure, I tend to line up my putts straighter."
Ward was trying to duplicate his wife's victory in the Commissioner's Cup when she won the title in 1989.
"It was tough watching Danny sink the last putt, but I'm happy for him," said Greg Ward, who earned $900. With the days lowest 3 round total, Ward won an additional $250 in the All Sport Short tournament, giving him more than $63,000 in career winnings.
McCaslin's Commissioner's Cup win also qualifies him for the $127,000 Putt-Putt / Orange Lake Country Club Skins tournament September 8th in Orlando, FL. "I'm really looking forward to putting on television," McCaslin said.
But McCaslin was too busy celebrating his first Commissioner's Cup title, the first of three major tournament events of the summer sponsored by the Professional Putters Association, to think about the upcoming ESPN match.
"This is a big win for me," said McCaslin. "I hope it leads to a few more wins."
McCaslin, who regularly plays out of the Putt-Putt course in Mandeville, LA, started the second day two strokes behind first day leaderDanny Dore of Baltimore. But Dore stumbled early and never found his stroke. He finished at 40 under.
McCaslin trailed Ward by a stroke with five holes to play, but that's when he was his toughest. He birdied three holes and pared the other two in winning his first major PPA title. McCaslin, an equipment service employee for Northwest airlines, has won more than $17,000 on the PPA circuit.
Marc Portugal of Plano, TX, finished third at 42 under. Three putters tied for fourth. Bob Davis of Wake Forest, NC, Jim Christina of Rockville, MD, and Bill Kirby of Fayetteville, NC, finished 40 under.
The next major tournament event of the 1996 season is the $10,000 PPA Hall of Fame tournament in Webster, TX, on June 22-23, 1996.
Tournament Recap
Leader After Round 1: Bob Davis 24 (12-under par) Leaders After Round 2: Bob Davis and Danny Dore 54 (18-under par) Leader After Round 3: Danny Dore 82 (26-under par) Leader After Round 4: Bob Davis 111 (33-under par) Leader After Round 5: Greg Ward 143 (37-under par) Low Round: Bob Davis and Mike Brown 24 (12-under par) Most Aces: Greg Ward
Professional Scores from the 1996 Commissioner's Cup
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Money Points 1 Danny McCaslin 29 27 28 29 31 27 171 $1,800.00
55.0
2 Greg Ward 30 30 29 27 27 29 172 $ 900.00
61.0
3 Marc Portugal 30 30 25 33 27 29 174 $ 800.00
51.0
4 Bob Davis 24 30 29 28 33 32 176 $ 600.00
57.0
Jim Christina 30 32 27 29 27 31 176 $ 600.00
47.0
Danny Dore 26 28 28 37 27 30 176 $ 600.00
51.5
7 Bill Kirby 31 30 30 30 30 26 177 $ 500.00
43.0
8 Lewis Burton 30 29 32 30 28 29 178 $ 375.00
38.0
Peter Neumann 30 30 29 30 28 31 178 $ 375.00
38.0
Randy Reeves 29 29 29 34 32 25 178 $ 375.00
38.0
Dean Dwiggins 30 29 33 28 28 30 178 $ 375.00
38.0
12 Mike Brown 34 30 27 24 32 33 180 $ 300.00
36.5
13 Frank Warren 28 28 37 26 29 33 181 $ 275.00
32.5
Brad Lebo 32 30 31 31 28 29 181 $ 275.00
32.5
15 Roland Block 29 33 32 28 29 32 183 $ 250.00
31.0
16 David McCaslin 32 32 26 31 35 28 184 $ 250.00
30.0
17 Bob Haizlip 29 30 35 29 30 32 185 $ 225.00
29.0
18 Rainey Statum 33 32 26 31 31 33 186 $ 208.33
27.0
Todd Barfield 33 33 29 29 33 29 186 $ 208.33
27.0
Mark Rainey 37 29 31 30 28 31 186 $ 208.33
27.0
21 Greg Newport 32 32 27 30 36 30 187 $ 100.00
24.5
C. L. Jones 30 33 33 33 27 31 187 $ 100.00
24.5
23 Jay Klapper 30 33 31 32 32 31 189 $ 75.00
21.5
Dave Taylor 36 34 33 29 28 29 189 $ 75.00
21.5
Randy Orr 34 29 34 31 33 28 189 $ 75.00
21.5
Gary Hester 35 32 29 31 29 33 189 $ 75.00
21.5
27 Andy Coradini 34 33 31 28 32 32 190 18.0
Tony Jackson 33 30 30 33 29 35 190 18.0
Dan Anders 35 34 27 35 30 29 190 18.0
30 Kevin Lacey 29 33 33 29 36 31 191 14.5
Alan Quinnelly 31 30 34 34 34 28 191 14.5
Larry Simpson 31 34 27 33 30 36 191 14.5
Rick Alessi 39 33 30 31 30 28 191 14.5
34 Richard Zack 34 27 35 31 31 34 192 11.0
Robert Johnson 29 33 34 34 32 30 192 11.0
Gene Reams 29 33 36 30 33 31 192 11.0
37 Buddy Taylor 33 35 33 32 34 26 193 9.00
38 Paul Johns 32 30 34 33 31 34 194 7.00
Nick Gill 32 33 31 31 36 31 194 7.00
Jeff Smith 32 30 34 34 34 30 194 7.00
41 Rick Baird 33 31 37 31 31 32 195 5.00
Manfred Stewart 36 31 30 35 34 29 195 5.00
43 Bobby Ward 32 33 32 34 30 35 196 5.00
Edgar Hollifield 33 32 37 32 31 31 196 5.00
45 Enid Klapper 31 31 40 29 33 33 197 5.00
46 Rodney Ashley 36 31 32 32 32 36 199 5.00
47 Greg Roberts 38 33 31 33 31 34 200 5.00
48 David Lynch 36 31 32 32 35 35 201 5.00
49 Steve Tanton 34 33 34 30 34 37 202 5.00
Al Simpson 34 33 33 34 34 34 202 5.00
51 Mike Damsky 38 34 34 31 35 33 205 5.00
52 John Lachmann 38 36 34 31 35 33 207 5.00
53 Barry Wyatt 33 35 38 34 36 36 212 5.00
54 Mark Hasty 37 40 42 43 33 41 236 5.00
Amateur Division