Lewis Burton Wins the 1997 Commissioner's Cup Title
Augusta, GA - 26-27 April 1997 - April showers bring May flowers, and a check for $2,000 to Lewis Burton. Burton of Lawrenceville, Georgia won the $10,000 Commissioner's Cup title by 6 strokes. Seventy-five Professional Putters traveled to Augusta, Georgia to compete in this event, April 26th and 27th, 1997.
After completing the first four rounds of competition, Burton held an 8 stroke lead with a score of 103, 41-under par, to give him a comfortable edge over Bill Kirby, Jr. of Fayetteville, North Carolina and Rainey Statum of Kingwood, Texas.
Burton was determined to putt each hole conservatively, despite the adverse conditions. This strategy paid off, winning him $2,000 and a guaranteed position on the nationally televised PPA Championship Tournament show being filmed in September, 1997. Burton exclaimed, "I was on the television show last year and didn't do very well, so I hope to redeem myself this year. I'm looking forward to it."
Not far behind Burton was Rainey Statum, who at one point edged within four strokes of Burton in the seventh round. Burton maintained his lead shooting par or better on every hole in the tournament. On the 18th hole in the last round, Rainey Statum aced the hole to tie Kevin Lacey of Cincinnati, Ohio for second place.
Also included in the weekend's activities was a free baseball clinic hosted by former Los Angeles Dodger, Jay Johnstone and Jay Howell.
Professional Scores for the 1997 $10,000 Commissioner's Cup
Total for Round Prize Player Rounds 1-4 5 6 7 8 Total Money 1 Lewis Burton 103 29 32 28 30 222 $2,000.00 2 Kevin Lacey 112 31 30 27 28 228 $950.00 Rainey Statum 111 27 32 31 27 228 $950.00 4 Greg Ward 116 29 29 27 28 229 $550.00 5 Bart Bason 113 30 30 30 29 232 $500.00 6 Brad Lebo 113 30 30 29 31 233 $450.00 7 Bill Kirby, Jr. 111 32 31 31 29 234 $412.50 Gary Hester 117 31 30 28 28 234 $412.50 9 Andy Coradini 115 29 31 30 30 235 $312.50 Danny Dore 117 28 32 27 31 235 $312.50 Peter Neumann 119 26 31 29 30 235 $312.50 12 Randy Orr 115 29 35 30 27 236 $225.00 13 Greg Newport 118 32 32 26 29 237 $212.50 Randy Reeves 121 28 33 25 30 237 $212.50 15 Dan Anders 120 30 32 26 30 238 $181.25 Danny McCaslin 120 28 31 29 30 238 $181.25 Don Parker 118 26 32 30 32 238 $181.25 Todd Fowler 121 28 29 28 32 238 $181.25 19 Tony Varnadore 116 29 30 32 32 239 $175.00 20 David Lynch 121 26 34 26 33 240 $165.00 Gene Reams 120 26 36 27 31 240 $165.00 22 Bob Haizlip 119 32 31 28 31 241 $82.50 David McCaslin 123 28 31 28 31 241 $82.50 Jay Klapper 122 27 30 35 27 241 $82.50 Larry Simpson 118 33 31 28 31 241 $82.50 Manfred Stewart 120 30 29 30 32 241 $82.50 Michael Flavin 120 26 32 28 35 241 $82.50 28 Todd Barfield 123 29 31 29 31 243 29 C. L. Jones 123 31 33 27 30 244 Dave Taylor 128 30 30 26 30 244 Jimmy Mott 126 30 30 25 33 244 Mike Brown 120 33 33 29 29 244 33 Buddy Taylor 124 30 31 31 29 245 Darrell Britt 118 31 36 29 31 245 Paul Pastilong 120 31 35 31 28 245 36 Alan Quinnelly 116 37 32 28 33 246 37 Greg Roberts 117 31 37 31 31 247 Paul Johns 123 33 32 30 29 247 Robert Johnson 124 32 29 29 33 247 Tony Jackson 120 33 30 32 32 247 41 Bobby Jackson 126 28 31 29 34 248 42 Bo Luthie 123 29 35 29 33 249 43 Holden Knight 125 33 31 29 32 250 Roger Beckerman 118 34 34 34 30 250 Jim Heikkinen 118 36 32 33 31 250 46 Barry Wyatt 129 30 32 26 35 252 Jeffrey Smith 124 33 31 30 34 252 48 Rick Baird 127 31 33 31 32 254 Mark Rainey 118 29 36 36 35 254 50 Mark Hasty 131 26 34 32 32 255 Mike Damsky 129 29 35 28 34 255 52 Robby Bryant 129 29 36 32 32 258 53 Nick Gill 125 33 34 35 33 260 54 Enid Klapper 133 31 32 34 31 261 Rodney Ashely 129 31 29 34 38 261 56 Barb Mingo 136 26 32 34 34 262 57 Bobby Kirby 129 35 36 36 33 269
Amateur Scores for 1997 $10,000 Commissioner's Cup
| Total for | Round | Prize | ||||||
| Player | Rounds 1-4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | Money | |
| 1 | Donnie Carpenter | 120 | 27 | 32 | 28 | 29 | 236 | $ 30.00 |
| 2 | Rusty Taylor | 121 | 33 | 33 | 29 | 28 | 244 | $ 30.00 |
| 3 | Jim Cruse, Jr. | 120 | 29 | 34 | 30 | 32 | 245 | $ 30.00 |
| 4 | Tony Davenport | 119 | 36 | 37 | 31 | 27 | 250 | $ 30.00 |
| 5 | Dwain Willett | 124 | 35 | 35 | 25 | 33 | 252 | $ 30.00 |
| 6 | Brian Martin | 126 | 33 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 253 | |
| 7 | Stan Seethoff | 123 | 30 | 35 | 34 | 32 | 254 | |
| 8 | Chris Hudson | 129 | 28 | 34 | 30 | 36 | 257 | |
| Jonathan Reid | 126 | 34 | 34 | 31 | 31 | 257 | ||
| 10 | J. L. Coffey | 127 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 44 | 267 | |
| 11 | Justin Taylor | 142 | 30 | 35 | 34 | 35 | 276 | |
| 12 | Rick Rybaczek | 137 | 36 | 34 | 36 | 35 | 278 | |
Novice Scores for 1997 $10,000 Commissioner's Cup
| Total for | Round |
||||||
| Player | Rounds 1-4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | |
| 1 | Salman Qureshi | 131 | 39 | 37 | 32 | 36 | 275 |
| 2 | Aaron Ashley | 148 | 42 | 38 | 41 | 34 | 303 |
| 3 | Brandon Ashley | 149 | 38 | 42 | 35 | 47 | 311 |
| 4 | Lee Ashley | 158 | 39 | 37 | 36 | 44 | 314 |
| 5 | Chris Cox | 164 | 47 | 39 | 39 | 41 | 330 |