Lee Messinger Comes from Behind to Win the 1999
Texas Open Crown
Webster, TX - Lee Messinger of Dallas came from three strokes off the pace
on the second day to win the Texas Open Championship by two strokes over Greg Roberts of
Pasadena and Jeffrey
Smith from Dallas. Paired in the final threesome with Roberts and Smith, Messinger
took the lead when he posted a fifth round 25 and held it throughout all but two holes in
the final three rounds to earn his second tour title of the year and second qualifying
spot for state weekend in Tyler.
"This was quite unexpected " said Messinger, who had been a runner-up in two
state championships (1995 & 1997) before he nailed down his first major championship
on the Texas Tour with this victory. "I really looked for Greg to win the way he
played on Saturday. I never counted Jeffrey out either...as it turned out he fired a 50
for rounds 6 and 7 and was shooting lights out in the last round until 17." Lee's
rounds of 28-30-26-27-25-30-29-31 gave him an eight round total of 226, 62-under par, and
earned him the first place prize of $600.00.
Jeffrey Smith, a two-time state champion going for his third major title in Texas, was
tied for the lead going into the tough 17th in the final round, but put himself out of a
chance for the title when he took a double-bogey four. "It's easy to look back at my
decision to go for 17, but I was on a roll and thought I could make it" said Smith.
"I just didn't hit it very good." Despite his four on the 143rd hole, Jeffrey's
second day total of 112 was the lowest score posted in either division.
Greg Roberts entered the final round eight shots back of Messinger before making a
charge of his own by acing 10 of the first 14 holes. "It was a longshot for me to
even be close to Lee at the end" said Roberts, who after acing 16 to go 11-under for
the round was unable to make the last two holes to force a playoff. "Lee came out of
the gate strong and put the heat on...it was a real pressure cooker out there today! He
fought through the tough times and in the end played more consistently than either Jeffrey
or me...he deserved to win." Both Roberts and Smith earned $350.00 and qualifying
spots for state weekend. Greg also slipped past Joel Baker to regain the Player of the
Year points lead on the Texas Putting Tour.
Kingwood's Rainey Statum, the Open winner in 1993 & 1997 and last year's runner-up,
finished in fourth place at 236, 52-under par. Statum also earned his second qualifying
spot for state weekend. State champion Brice Bergesen of Houston rounded out the top five
posting a 237, 51-under par. The final two pro qualifying spots from the Texas Open went
to Don Parker of Rosenberg (2) and Garland's Tim Murphree (2).
Jon Drexler of Houston posted a second day total of 117 to come from five shots off the
pace and win his first tournament of the season and first major championship on the Texas
Putting Tour. Drexler posted rounds of 33-32-32-29-27-30-27-31 to gave him an eight round
total of 241, 47-under par, and a four stroke cushion over defending champion Randy Wimpy
of Arlington and first day leader Steve Willmann from Austin. "It was great just to
play well after last weekend in Tyler/Longview" said Drexler. "I never really
thought about winning until after the seventh round when I shot my second 27 of the
day."
Randy Wimpy, who was looking to do a repeat of last year when a final round 25 earned
him the Open title, had to settle for a playoff win over Steve Willmann for second place
and the runner-up trophy. Jason Sheffeld of Fulshur finished fourth and Houston's Doug
Austin was fifth. Wimpy, Sheffield, Austin, and Mike Wellborn earned qualifying spots for
state weekend.
Professional Scores from the 1999 Texas Open (22-23 May
1999)
|
Player |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Total |
Prize Money |
1 |
Lee Messinger* |
28 |
30 |
26 |
27 |
25 |
30 |
29 |
31 |
226 |
$600.00 |
2 |
Greg Roberts* |
27 |
27 |
27 |
27 |
30 |
33 |
32 |
25 |
228 |
$350.00 |
|
Jeffrey Smith* |
30 |
27 |
28 |
31 |
33 |
24 |
26 |
29 |
228 |
$350.00 |
4 |
Rainey Statum* |
29 |
32 |
32 |
27 |
30 |
30 |
29 |
27 |
236 |
$150.00 |
5 |
Brice Bergesen |
27 |
30 |
32 |
35 |
27 |
29 |
27 |
30 |
238 |
$100.00 |
6 |
Don Parker* |
31 |
31 |
29 |
29 |
32 |
28 |
30 |
28 |
238 |
$80.00 |
7 |
Joel Baker |
31 |
32 |
30 |
28 |
31 |
32 |
30 |
28 |
242 |
$60.00 |
8 |
Tim Murphree* |
31 |
31 |
30 |
32 |
28 |
33 |
27 |
33 |
245 |
|
9 |
Chris Conradi |
31 |
39 |
33 |
32 |
31 |
27 |
35 |
28 |
246 |
|
10 |
Bill Florian |
32 |
30 |
32 |
33 |
31 |
30 |
27 |
33 |
248 |
|
|
Randy Willett |
34 |
29 |
36 |
33 |
32 |
29 |
26 |
29 |
248 |
|
12 |
Pat King |
33 |
28 |
33 |
30 |
36 |
31 |
30 |
28 |
249 |
|
13 |
Dwain Willett |
29 |
33 |
32 |
30 |
34 |
30 |
27 |
34 |
251 |
|
14 |
David Lynch |
32 |
32 |
29 |
32 |
31 |
34 |
35 |
28 |
253 |
|
15 |
Don McCracken |
34 |
35 |
33 |
37 |
31 |
29 |
32 |
32 |
263 |
|
16 |
Al Simpson |
30 |
31 |
32 |
34 |
35 |
36 |
40 |
38 |
276 |