15 July 2001 - Richmond, VA - Manfred Stewart had a sizeable lead after the third round of the annual Virginia Open in Richmond before falling back and creating a second straight playoff for the win. Stewart led the 26-player field at 74 and held a three-shot lead over Andy Coradini and Gilbert Sharpe before drama unfolded.Manfred Stewart Wins 2001 Virginia Open in Playoff
Manfred Stewart playing at the Orange Lake Resort in Florida.
The Virginia Open has been contested every season in Richmond since the beginning and has featured many champions that were present in this event, including defending champion Bo Luthie and three-time champion Mike Brown. The event on Course 2 was treated with delightful and spring-like sunny skies.
Dave Taylor, who won the 2000 Virginia Putting Classic last year on Course 3 with an impressive 72-hole score of 93, got things rolling with an opening round 22, which proved to be the low round of the championship. Taylor would then slip with a 29, giving way to Sharpe's second round 24 for the lead. Sharpe was in at 50, while Taylor and Stewart, who fired a 25 that round, were a shot back.
Stewart would gain momentum in the third round as he fired a 23 to take a commanding three stroke advantage over Sharpe and Andy Coradini. It would almost be a repeat performance from the day before as a bunch of players were closing in to a victory. Sharpe's final round 25 enabled him to tie Stewart in the clubhouse at 102. Coradini missed out as he fired a 26 to fall one back, and Buddy Taylor came strong with a 23, but it was just one shot too many. This score came after an opening round 31, and finished with strong rounds of 25, 24, and 23 in succession.
Stewart would go on and win the Virginia Open title by firing a nine-under par 27 and defeated Sharpe by one shot in the playoff. The win was Stewart's first win this year and the first since he won in Fredericksburg just last year. Sharpe had to settle for second, while Coradini and Buddy Taylor were tied for third. Darrell Anderson, Vince Batten, and Dave Taylor all ended up tied for fifth.
First year APA player Jonathan Koo surprised a lot of players as he was only in his second tournament of his career, and came away with a two-shot victory over Saturday's winner, Tyler Proffitt. After finishing Saturday's play with a disappointing finish to end up at 90, Koo regained composure by firing four solid rounds of 29, 26, 25, and 26. The 25 in the third round gave him the lead for good and cruised on to victory with a final score of 106. Proffitt took second at 108, while Paul Lowery came in third at 111.
Next weekend, the Virginia tour returns to action as they will head to Lynchburg, site of the 2001 National Championship, and join forces with the North Carolina program for the second time this season. The action gets underway on Saturday, July 21, at 12:00pm on Course 1. They will play on Sunday, July 22 on Course 3, with a tee time of 11:00am.
Scores provided by Ed Grajewski and story by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of 2001 Virginia Open
(Richmond, VA - 15 July 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 4 Total Money 1 Manfred Stewart** 26 25 23 28 102 $300.00 2 Gilbert Sharpe 26 24 27 25 102 $200.00 3 Andy Coradini 27 25 25 26 103 $162.50 Buddy Taylor 31 25 24 23 103 $162.50 5 Darrell Anderson 28 26 26 25 105 $120.00 Vince Batten 27 28 23 27 105 $120.00 Dave Taylor 22 29 28 26 105 $120.00 8 Thomas Rawles 24 28 25 29 106 $100.00 9 Matt Summey 27 25 28 28 108 $90.00 10 Ken Cook 28 30 27 24 109 $75.00 Danny Dore 30 27 27 25 109 $75.00 12 Brad Lebo 27 28 26 29 110 $75.00 13 Daryl Freeman 28 27 30 26 111 $75.00 14 Bo Luthie 27 31 27 27 112 15 Rick Baird 30 28 29 26 113 Kevin Garrett 29 31 27 26 113 Ed Grajewski 27 30 27 29 113 18 Wayne Cheatham 32 31 28 23 114 19 Mike Brown 28 29 27 31 115 20 Gary Moore 31 30 26 29 116 21 Bart Bason 30 31 32 25 118 Bryan Boyd 27 29 33 29 118 23 Rodney Ashley 32 28 31 29 120 Gary Hinshaw 27 27 36 30 120 Robert Johnson 28 30 31 31 120 26 Rusty Taylor 29 33 29 30 121
** Won in 18-hole playoff for first place.
Amateur Division of 2001 Virginia Open
( Richmond, VA - 15 July 2001)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 4 Total Money 1 Jonathan Koo 29 26 25 26 106 $25.00 2 Tyler Proffitt 30 25 27 26 108 $25.00 3 Paul Lowery 28 28 25 30 111 $25.00 4 Marty Handschuh 30 29 26 27 112 $25.00 Amy Smith 28 27 29 28 112 $25.00 6 Ken Schooler 29 30 26 28 113 7 Wayne Saunders 30 27 33 27 117 Steven Jones 29 29 29 30 117 9 Jonathan Moore 30 30 31 27 118 10 Chuck Dibbs 31 27 34 27 119 11 Bill Garrett 33 26 31 31 121 12 Liz Shumaker 28 30 34 31 123 13 Russell Johnson 30 35 29 30 124 Matt Coghill 30 34 33 27 124 15 Robert Chetister 32 31 32 31 126 Chuck Cyr 30 29 34 33 126 Earl Davis 34 30 30 32 126 18 Walter Kolb 33 30 32 34 129