Matthews Rises from JPA to Win Western Open
Lake Charles, LA - Twenty-three year old Cliff Matthews out-distanced the pack to win the $10,000 Western Open in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Sunday, June 14th with a score of 208, 80 under par. Matthews, who entered round two of the two-day tournament trailing Saturday’s leader, Charlie Greenwalt, by only two strokes, took the lead on round eight with a low round of 23. "It was a close competition for awhile out there. The 23 helped build my momentum," said Matthews of the round that put him over the top.
Matthews, who climbed through the ranks to National Pro status, began his putting career in the JPA program, winning $4,500 in scholarships with three first place wins and one second place win. Turning Pro at 15, Matthews has had an impressive beginning to his putting career. After competing in the "1995 Skins Competition" on television, Matthews has his sights set on appearing on ESPN in the Putt-Putt Golf Championships.
Charlie Greenwalt, Indianapolis, Ind.; Jeffrey Smith of Dallas, Texas; and Peter Neumann of Fredericksburg, Va. tied for second place in the Pro Division of the $10,000 Western Open with a tournament score of 213, 75 under par.
William Glisson, Jr., of Martinez, Ga. captured the APA title with a score of 215, 73 under par, followed by local favorite Lindsay Midgett of Lake Charles, La. with a score of 234, 54 under par. Locals, Matt Sermon and Scott Baxter took first place and runner up in the Novice Division.
Professional Scores for the 1998 Western Open
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Money Points Seed Shootout 1 Cliff Matthews 24 28 25 27 27 27 23 27 208 $2,000.00 100 1 Yes 2 Jeff Smith 27 26 24 29 28 30 25 24 213 $ 816.66 97 2 Yes Peter Neumann 29 27 24 28 26 25 27 27 213 $ 816.66 97 3 Yes Charlie Greenwalt 25 25 26 26 28 27 27 29 213 $ 816.66 5 Lewis Burton 26 24 27 31 27 27 29 24 215 $ 475.00 94 4 Yes Marc Portugal 22 29 26 29 27 25 29 28 215 $ 475.00 7 Randy Reeves 26 28 25 28 32 26 26 25 216 $ 425.00 92 5 8 Danny Dore 23 28 28 29 27 29 28 26 218 $ 400.00 90 6 Yes 9 Greg Newport 31 30 28 23 26 28 28 25 219 $ 333.33 86 7 Yes Greg Ward 27 28 29 26 27 29 26 27 219 $ 333.33 86 8 Gary Hester 29 25 31 28 25 25 27 29 219 $ 333.33 86 10 12 Bart Bason 28 28 28 27 26 27 30 26 220 $ 250.00 82 11 13 Tom Butler 30 27 27 28 27 26 28 29 222 $ 225.00 80 12 14 David Lynch 30 26 32 26 28 29 25 27 223 $ 195.00 75 Playoff Don Parker 25 28 28 29 28 29 29 27 223 $ 195.00 Playoff Jay Klapper 28 30 30 27 29 26 25 28 223 $ 195.00 75 Playoff Bob Haizlip 25 26 31 27 29 28 27 30 223 $ 195.00 75 Playoff Todd Barfield 25 27 27 28 25 32 27 32 223 $ 195.00 75 Playoff 19 Bob Davis 35 25 28 27 24 28 31 26 224 $ 171.66 68 Rainey Statum 24 31 28 29 29 30 26 27 224 $ 171.66 68 Brad Lebo 26 29 29 32 27 23 30 28 224 $ 171.66 68 Yes 22 Bill Kirby Jr. 28 29 26 25 34 28 29 26 225 $ 165.00 60 Jimmy Mott 31 29 25 28 26 31 28 27 225 $ 165.00 60 Paul Johns 32 30 26 28 25 28 27 29 225 $ 165.00 60 25 Robert Johnson 24 29 28 28 28 30 30 29 226 $ 82.50 57 Dave McCaslin 27 31 26 26 26 35 25 30 226 $ 82.50 57 27 Ray McWhirter 27 30 26 30 29 29 31 25 227 Andy Coradini 30 27 29 30 25 29 30 27 227 51.25 Todd Fowler 27 28 30 28 27 32 27 28 227 51.25 Dan Anders 31 31 29 28 24 29 25 30 227 51.25 Kevin Lacey 30 28 29 26 27 27 29 31 227 51.25 32 Rick Baird 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 32 228 48 33 Rick Alessi 27 34 25 31 29 28 27 28 229 46 Tony Varnadore 26 28 29 28 27 30 33 28 229 46 Dave Taylor 31 28 31 26 27 27 29 30 229 46 36 Darrell Britt 27 30 31 26 31 32 30 24 231 43.5 Yes Gene Reams 28 33 30 28 27 29 28 28 231 43.5 Brett Saucer 28 31 28 29 29 29 26 31 231 39 Greg Roberts 30 29 29 29 28 30 30 29 234 41.5 Jim Heikkinen 29 27 28 29 31 32 26 32 234 41.5 41 Larry Simpson 27 29 31 29 34 28 29 28 235 39 Al Simpson 31 28 31 26 30 30 30 29 235 Mike Damsky 26 31 33 29 30 25 30 31 235 39 Danny McCaslin 33 28 31 28 28 27 27 33 235 39 45 Rodney Ashley 26 28 33 28 29 27 30 35 236 37 46 Lee Messinger 34 29 25 28 27 33 31 30 237 47 Randall Willett 27 30 32 32 27 31 33 26 238 35 Keith Vinet Sr. 31 31 31 34 27 28 28 28 238 Randy Orr 30 32 32 27 30 29 29 29 238 35 50 Chris Conradi 29 28 34 31 26 35 27 30 240 51 Mark Hasty 30 32 28 27 31 31 28 35 242 33 52 Steve Berglund 29 29 31 33 30 31 26 34 243 53 Dave Nutini 34 31 32 31 26 24 32 35 245 54 Jim LaBlanc 28 30 34 31 31 35 33 25 247 55 Greg Simpson 25 34 33 32 29 35 28 32 248 56 C. L. Jones 26 33 32 31 34 31 29 33 249 32 57 David Barnett 32 30 32 27 32 32 29 37 251 31 58 Barb Mingo 32 31 32 30 34 33 31 35 258 30 DQ Mike Brown 26 31 29 31 117 WD Steve Wood 32 30 31 26 119
Amateur Scores for the 1998 Western Open
| Round | Prize | ||||||||||
|
Player |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | Money | |
| 1 | William Glisson, Jr. | 28 | 25 | 29 | 27 | 30 | 23 | 27 | 26 | 215 | $30.00 |
| 2 | Lindsay Midgett | 31 | 31 | 26 | 26 | 29 | 28 | 30 | 33 | 234 | $30.00 |
| 3 | Mike Huckaby | 29 | 32 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 27 | 32 | 29 | 241 | $30.00 |
| 4 | Jon Drexler | 28 | 35 | 31 | 31 | 29 | 32 | 27 | 31 | 244 | $30.00 |
| 5 | Aaron Armstrong | 33 | 30 | 27 | 34 | 30 | 33 | 30 | 32 | 249 | $30.00 |
| 6 | Brian Fridley | 28 | 30 | 33 | 29 | 32 | 32 | 29 | 37 | 250 | |
| 7 | Mike Wellborn | 33 | 36 | 36 | 33 | 33 | 35 | 38 | 27 | 271 | |
Novice Scores for the 1998 Western Open
| Round | ||||||||||
|
Player |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | |
| 1 | Matt Sermon | 35 | 35 | 31 | 31 | 36 | 32 | 31 | 35 | 266 |
| 2 | Scott Baxter | 36 | 34 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 36 | 34 | 33 | 272 |
| 3 | Craig Smith | 32 | 31 | 42 | 35 | 36 | 34 | 38 | 33 | 281 |
| 4 | Casey Jones | 37 | 40 | 32 | 40 | 34 | 40 | 37 | 37 | 297 |