Rainey Statum Wins 2004 PPA Texas Open 26-27 June 2004 - Austin, TX - The Texas Putting tour held it's first major event of the year at the Austin, Texas course. The weather looked like it might be a big factor going in, as there was a 70 to 80 percent chance of rain both days. Luck was with us however, as the rain seemed to circle the Austin area but leave us alone during tournament competition. Rainey Statum 2004 PPA Texas Open Champion The first day course proved to be one of the toughest courses played on the Texas Tour. Of the 122 rounds played there were only 12 rounds shot below 6 under 30 and no players were able to average better than 6 under a round over the four rounds. After play the first day defending champion Gary Reed held the lead at 120 in the Pro division two ahead of Brice Bergesen and David Lynch. James Taylor at 126 held a four-stroke lead in the amateur division. James Taylor 2004 PPA Texas Open Amateur Champion The second day would be competed on the normal tournament course and scores looked to be lower. The first round of the day saw Gary Reed increase his lead to four stokes shooting a 9 under 27 and both David Lynch and Brice Bergesen coming in two strokes worse. While Gary Reed still held the lead after the sixth round, things tightened up considerably between a few leaders while the rest of the field was close to being out of the race for the win. Brice managed to pull back the two strokes he had lost in the fifth round and was again two back and a fine 11 under 25 from Mike Baldoza left him one back. The only other player within 7 strokes of Gary was Rainey Statum at four back. Going to the last round Gary had been caught, both Brice and Rainey had tied him and Mike was sitting 3 back of those three players. Rainey Statum had started the day eight back of the lead but by the time he finished he had won the event by three stokes. His second day total of 107 was better by eight strokes than any other score this day. The second day in the amateur division saw wild swings in the standings. James Taylor started the day with a four stroke lead, by the time the sixth round was over James was in 4th place; 9 stokes back of the new leader Lloyd Navarro. The last two rounds saw things tighten up as both James Taylor, Chance Marett and Steve Willmann got closer and closer. By the time these players got to the last few holes it was a three-way fight between Chance, Lloyd and James. When chance finished at 256 both Lloyd and James came to the last hole tied one ahead of Chance. When Lloyd bogeyed the last hole ahead of James it gave him the ability to play it safe. A solid Par gave him the win. Article and scores provided by Lee Messinger.

Professional Division of 2004 PPA Texas Open
(Austin, TX Event - 26-27 June 2004)

		Round									Prize
	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Money
1	Rainey Statum*	33	31	31	33	27	27	25	28	235	$320.00
2	Gary Reed*	31	31	30	28	27	31	29	31	238	$200.00
3	Brice Bergesen	30	34	30	28	29	29	27	32	239	$120.00
	Mike Baldoza*	31	33	31	29	30	25	31	29	239	$120.00
5	Rodney Phillips*	35	32	29	31	33	28	28	28	244	$80.00
6	Wade Sahmel	31	29	30	33	33	29	29	31	245	$60.00
7	Cliff Matthews*	39	33	29	29	27	36	29	25	247	$40.00
8	Keith Barfield*	31	33	31	29	29	32	29	34	248
9	David Lynch*	33	33	28	28	29	36	31	31	249
10	Jeffrey Smith	30	32	29	34	32	28	31	34	250
11	Lee Messinger	34	31	33	30	32	30	29	32	251
12	Joel Woodall	37	34	34	32	29	27	31	29	253
13	Steve Tanton	32	37	31	30	31	32	31	30	254
14	Jimmy Clark	35	33	32	32	32	33	32	29	258
15	Al Simpson	36	36	39	33	33	37	33	33	280

Amateur Division of 2004 PPA Texas Open
(Austin, TX Event - 26-27 June 2004)