Enslen makes it through the rain to win FCO crown
The final stage of the annual Tour de France cycling race is largely a ceremonial ride to the Champs d’Elysees, save the one time when American Greg LeMond controversially rallied to edge Laurent Fignon by eight seconds in 1989.
Although the fourth and final round of the Fayette County Open Sunday was not largely ceremonial, there would be no daring comeback at Springdale Golf Club as Jeremy Enslen went wire-to-wire in the four-day tournament to shoot even-par 284 for his third title in five years.
Enslen carded an even-par 70 to clinch the title.
Mason Fordyce shot 1-under 69 to finish five strokes behind Enslen in second place.
Not even the rain could derail Enslen’s title run. Torrential downpours Saturday evening drenched the course and the rain returned Sunday at noon, leading to a 30-minute delay. Play resumed, but intermittent showers plagued the field until the final putt rolled into the pin.
“It wasn’t easy,” Enslen said of the final round. “I shot my target score. It was tougher than I thought it would be. It’s tough to play with a big lead. I was playing not to lose. I was more conservative.”
Enslen was in the final group with Fordyce and Pat Calvaresi on the No. 8 green.
“All you want to do is finish,” Enslen said of the delay. “The doubt, you start thinking about it. All I wanted to do is play my game and shoot 70.”
Enslen returns to the winner’s circle after consecutive second-place finishes the past two years.
“(The third title) feels good after coming so close the past couple years. My life is different now. I have a 2-year-old. If you expect to win (at any level), you have to put the time in. It’s tough to win,” said Enslen.
Fordyce’s return after two-year hiatus was highly successful. Trailing by six strokes, the Uniontown graduate didn’t want to get involved with a match play situation with Enslen.
“I was looking to play my game,” said Fordyce. “I didn’t want to worry about my score. I just wanted to put the lowest score out there. My focus was to worry about my own swing.
“It’s hard to try to play just to beat (Enslen). I shot 1-under, but I needed a couple more to fall for me. I needed to make five more putts.”
As for his return to the county tournament, Fordyce added, “But, I couldn’t be more excited about this week.”
Defending champion Santino Marchitello and former champion Pat Calvaresi both trailed by eight strokes entering the final round. Marchitello matched Enslen’s even-par score to finish tied with John Kingora, another former champion in the field, at 8-over 292. Kingora carded a 1-under 69.
Calvaresi faltered a bit in the final round, scoring a 10-over 80 to finish at 302 and a tie for eighth place with Scott Bush, who also shot 1-under 69.
Jim Kubina had a closing round of 3-over 73 to finish alone in fifth place with a 16-over 300.
Marcus Ondra and Ian Picosky finished tied for sixth at 301. Picosky carded the low round of the day of 2-under 68 and Ondra finished with an even-par 70.