HISTORY DENIED
WITT WINS FIRST CHARLY, QUIROZ SETTLES FOR 2ND
STUDIO CITY – It took a tie-breaker on a playoff hole to halt Ed Quiroz’s bid for Tour history. Saturday, the Tour’s hottest golfer was aiming to become the first golfer to win 4 straight tournaments but was outdueled by 2015 Player of the Year Martin Witt. “I was ready to go. [I’m thinking] I have to get home, I gotta long drive, then all of a sudden we’ve got a playoff. Last thing I expected,” said Witt. After landing his tee shot closest to the pin, but off the green, Witt made the bold decision to switch from putter to wedge for his approach shot. He skillfully landed his chip 5 feet from the pin, giving himself an easy 2-putt for the win. Asked how he dealt with the pressure of the playoff, Witt deadpanned, “It’s nothing, it’s like getting out of bed.”
‘That’s how it goes’
Like Witt, Quiroz made bogey on the playoff hole, but he had already lost the eventual tie break (closest to the pin) when his tee shot went long. “I had to execute on the playoff and I didn’t. Marty executed, that’s how it goes.” Despite an impressive 32 in his Whitsett debut and coming up painfully short in his bid for the unprecedented, Quiroz was gracious in defeat, “We’re just gonna have to start [a new streak].” For Witt, who matched his career best score at Whitsett, the victory was the 10th of his career. “This is up there because I never thought I would win this tournament. And then this morning, I was like, why not me?”
2016 CHARLY CLASSIC FINAL SCORES
| PLACE | GOLFER | SCORES | HANDICAP | BONUS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | Witt E. Quiroz Frost Gordón Vaughan Moawad Fidler T. Joe | 40 32 38 42 40 38 42 47 | -15 -7 -10 -10 -10 -7 -10 -10 | 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 0 | 25* 25 28 29 30 31 32 37 |
QUICK CHIPS
Leaders: Chris Moawad had not 1 but 2 birdies (3rd & 6th holes), the only golfer to card a birdie. He collected $8 from the birdie pot. Gerry Vaughan and Ed Quiroz carded tournament-high 4 pars apiece… Trending?: the playoff was just the 3rd in the tournament’s 13-year history but 2nd in the past 3 editions… Minority report: with 5 former winners in a field of 8, percentages seemed to favor a repeat winner. But the playoff featured 2 of the 3 non-former winners… déjà vu: Ed Quiroz found himself in a 2nd straight playoff (he defeated John Frost last month in the first playoff in Manhattan Beach Championship history)… Attendance woes continue: Saturday’s field of 8 matched the tournament’s worst attendance (2013) when half the Tour was missing… Streaks & Milestones: Martin Witt became the 5th golfer to reach double digits in career wins, and is now in sole possession of 5th on the all-time MGM Tour wins list. Gerry Vaughan’s 40 ended his streak of consecutive sub-40 Whitsett rounds at 7, 1 shy of the current record of 8. John Frost made the 90th start of his career, P-Jay Fidler, his 75th.
