Within an hour of Asheboro, golf's U.S. Open Championship was being held this weekend in Pinehurst, NC. Saturday's PPA tour event in Asheboro, however, was more reminiscent of the 1986 Masters Championship. Local standout Javier "Bear" Landin's dominating performance brought to mind a phrase popularized by Jack Nicklaus' 1986 Masters victory: "You can't stop a charging bear." Landin fired rounds of 26, 23, and 25 for a 54-hole total of 74, surviving late pressure from playing partner Brad Lebo, who finished second at 76, and Rick Baird, who posted 77 to finish third. The victory was the first of Landin's PPA career.

Play opened with Rick Rybaczek scorching the course with a sizzling tournament-low round of 22. Tied for second place at 24 after the first round were reigning South Carolina State Champion Brad Lebo, reigning Virginia State Champion Matt Summey, and Baird. The duo of Landin and Michael Hitt were in a tie for fifth position at 26.

During the second round, the tournament developed into a three-player contest. With Rybaczek struggling in the second round of action, Landin made his big move of the day by posting a round of 23 to move into a tie for the lead at 49 with Baird, who fired a second-round 25. Lebo shot 26 to take sole possession of third place at 50. Well off the pace and tied for fourth place at 55 were Summey and Rybaczek, who suffered a second-round 33.

Landin, Lebo, and Baird jockeyed for position on the front nine of the final round. Landin and Lebo matched front-nine 12's, with Baird posting 14. Lebo's aggressive ace effort at the critical twelfth hole powered through the right-to-left break and burned the right lip, allowing Landin to take command of the tournament with his ace. Landin played flawlessly into the clubhouse, firing a third-round 25 for a 54-hole total of 74, which tied Caleb Kennedy's 54-hole scoring record for the Asheboro course. Lebo aced the tournament's final hole to post 76 and finish in second place, one stroke ahead of Baird, who fired 77 for a third-place finish. Burlington local standout Lance Perdue surged up the leader board by shooting a spirited final-round 23 to finish alone in fourth place at 81. Summey rounded out the top five at 82. The cash line for the eleven money spots awarded in the tournament fell at 87. Baird earned and accepted the spots offered in the event for both the North Carolina State Championship and North Carolina Match Play Championship.

The amateur division of this event featured an epic battle between youth and experience. In this instance, experience won, with reigning 2004 APA National Champion Ricky Schults firing three consistent rounds of 26 to post a 54-hole total of 78 and notch a two-stroke victory over 15-year-old local standout Caleb Kennedy.

Schults took command of the tournament early, firing an opening-round 26 for the first-round lead. Kennedy made his presence felt by posting 27, taking sole possession of second position. Lurking in third place at 28 were Barry Moore and Dennis Biesma. Still in striking distance of Schults' lead in a fifth place tie at 29 were Frankie Peters, Mark Lawson, and Steve Helton.

Schults continued his stellar play in the second round, firing 26 and maintaining his lead with a two-round total of 52. Kennedy kept pace, matching Schults' 26 and remaining a stroke off the lead at 53. Peters put himself in the mix by also firing 26, moving into third position at 55. The only other amateurs under 60 after two rounds of play were Moore, in fourth place at 58, and Jeff Carr, in fifth position at 59.

With his third consecutive 26, Schults eliminated any potential drama in the final round. Schults' 54-hole total of 78 gave him a two-stroke victory over Kennedy, who finished alone in second at 80 after a final-round 27. The win was the fourth of the PPA season for Schults. Peters posted 82 to finish alone in third position. With a third-round 26, Carr charged into fourth place at 85. Moore took fifth place at 87. Mark Lawson captured the final amateur expense reimbursement spot, finishing in sixth place at 88.

Following the day's medal play competition, the North Carolina Tour held the second of two post-tournament match play events scheduled for the 2005 season. In the professional division, the match play field was comprised of the top sixteen finishers in the day's medal play event who attempted to qualify for the match play competition. Players were seeded by their place of finish in the day's medal play event and played eighteen-hole matches. By winning the Asheboro match play event, Brad Lebo avenged a tough loss to Rick Rybaczek on the sixth hole of sudden death in the final match of the Martinsville match play event held on May 21. On this day, Lebo, the second seed, left little to chance by defeating Matt Summey, the fourth seed, 5 and 3 in the final match to secure the victory in the Asheboro match play event. Lebo defeated James White, Darrell Britt, Randy Carter, and Summey en route to the win.

In the amateur division of the match play event, second-seeded Caleb Kennedy fought back from a narrow miss in the day's medal play event and captured the match play victory in the fifteen-player field. The talented teen defeated Jeff Carr, seeded fourth in the event, 3 and 2 in the final match. Starting on the tenth tee, the match was even through eleven holes, but Kennedy pulled away late on the front nine for the win. Kennedy defeated Scott Biesma, Dennis Biesma, Frankie Peters, and Carr on his way to victory.

The North Carolina PPA Tour will return to action with another 54-hole event on course # 1 in Asheboro, NC beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 19.