Stiles sitting 2nd with ’06 on mind
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
FORT SMITH — Darron Stiles will be in familiar position for today’s final round at the Fort Smith Classic.
Only this time, Stiles will start a stroke behind and have 18 holes to recover.
Stiles, the second-round co-leader, trails Matt Weibring by one stroke with one round remaining at Hardscrabble Country Club. Stiles shot a 2-under-par 68 to finish at 12 under, while Weibring was at 13 under after a 66 on Saturday.
Weibring, 28, will be trying for his first professional victory. Stiles has four victories on the Nationwide Tour.
First-round co-leader Rich Morris, a former Arkansas Razorback who lives in Fayetteville, was in position to challenge today before a bogey-double bogey finish left him five shots back, tied with four others at 8 under. Kris Blanks is alone in third at 9 under after Saturday’s 66.
Stiles, 34, won the 2006 Classic when he started the final round with a seemingly comfortable four-shot lead. Six holes later, he trailed by one and had to scramble to make the playoff, where he defeated Michael Putnam on the first extra hole.
“It’ll be interesting,” Stiles said. “We have a little bit of separation, Matt and I do, from everyone behind us. It will still be the two of us against the golf course.”
Weibring trailed by one stroke at the turn but made eagle on No. 11 and followed with consecutive birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to go to 14 under. A bogey on the par-3 17 th hole was Weibring’s only back-nine error.
“I wasn’t really looking at the boards,” Weibring said. “I had no idea, but I kind of had a feeling just by the people around us and stuff, it was the three of us playing. We were all near or in the lead. I really just tried to put my head down and worry about myself, because that’s all I can control.”
Weibring, the son of professional golfer D. A. Weibring, said he will try not to consider today’s final a matchplay competition against Stiles. Stiles said basically the same thing.
“I’m just going to try to keep my head down and not look at any boards,” Weibring said. “I’m just going to try to play the best I can on the front nine. When I get on 10, I might take a look and see how things are.
“ On the back nine on a Sunday is when you might play a little differently depending on the situation. Until then, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Golfers said the course played harder Saturday than in the previous two days. More difficult pin placement was a big reason why, making approach shots to the greens more exacting.
Stiles said he was rarely within 15 feet of a flag Saturday after shooting 7-under 63 on Friday. Daniel Summerhays had the best score of the day with a 5-under 65.
Stiles said his experience shouldn’t be that big of a factor because Weibring is a solid player who played smart Saturday. He said today’s winner will be the golfer who hits fairways consistently and makes their putts.
“I have to focus on what I’m trying to accomplish,” Stiles said. “If I do that, I shoot what I shoot and it gets me what it gets me. I’m going to try my best to not turn it into a match-play situation, unless we get 5 or 6 clear of everybody else.”
Weibring doesn’t have Stiles’ experience but smart, safe play ensured he had the lead after the third round. After his bogey on 17, Weibring drove into the woods on the par-4 18 th.
Weibring considered taking an aggressive shot at the green but decided to punch out into the fairway. From there, Weibring hit a wedge to within 8 feet and made the par putt.
“It was a nice way to finish,” Weibring said.
Morris had no such feel-good stories. Morris was at 11 under when he bogeyed the 17 th and then drove out of bounds on the 18 th, leading to a double bogey.
“Other than that, I played pretty darned good,” Morris said. “That’s not the way you want to finish the day for sure.
“ If that ball stays in bounds, it’s a different story. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
Last year, eventual winner Jay Williamson came from six shots off the pace with a final-round 63.
“If you would have told me starting on Thursday that I would be in contention at 8 under par, I probably would have taken that,” Morris said. “I have a chance [today ] if I play good. We’ll give it all I got.” Saturday’s results At Hardscrabble Country Club Fort Smith Purse: $ 550, 000 Par 70, 6, 783 yards Third of four rounds 197 (-13 ) Matt Weibring............... 64-67-66 198 (-12 ) Darron Stiles................. 67-63-68
201 (-9 ) Kris Blanks.................... 69-66-66
202 (-8 ) Rich Morris............. 67-63-72 Daniel Summerhays..... 70-67-65 David Lutterus............... 66-68-68 Kris Cox......................... 64-68-70 David Morland IV.......... 67-65-70
203 (-7 ) Tommy Tolles................ 73-64-66 Jimmy Walker............... 69-66-68 Cameron Percy............. 66-71-66 Jonathan Fricke............. 72-62-69 Colt Knost...................... 68-65-70 Tee McCabe................... 68-64-71
204 (-6 ) Craig Lile............... 70-65-69 Chris Smith................... 68-69-67 Ricky Barnes................. 68-67-69 Jason Schultz................ 67-67-70 Won Joon Lee............... 67-65-72
205 (-5 ) Jon Turcott.................... 71-66-68 Cody Freeman............... 73-63-69 Skip Kendall.................. 68-68-69 Steve Schneiter............. 67-67-71 Henrik Bjornstad........... 68-70-67 Casey Wittenberg.......... 69-69-67 Chris Thompson........... 68-65-72 Tommy Gainey.............. 64-69-72 Bob Sowards................. 68-70-67 Chris Kamin.................. 71-67-67 Scott Piercy................... 68-70-67 206 (-4 ) Anders Hultman............ 67-70-69 Mark Brooks................. 69-68-69 Michael Boyd................ 66-69-71 Keith Nolan.................... 68-66-72 207 (-3 ) Scott Gardiner............... 71-66-70 Joseph Lanza................ 70-66-71 Patrick Damron............. 68-69-70 Josh Broadaway........... 67-71-69 Justin Hicks................... 66-66-75 Nick Malinowski............ 71-67-69 208 (-2 ) Bryce Molder........... 71-66-71 Ty Tryon........................ 67-69-72 Jay Delsing.................... 70-67-71 Esteban Toledo.............. 70-65-73 Kelly Grunewald............ 69-68-71 Brian Stuard.................. 66-69-73 Randy Leen................... 69-69-70 Garrett Osborn.............. 69-69-70 Jake Roos..................... 68-70-70 209 (-1 ) Willie Wood................... 69-68-72 Tom Carter.................... 70-67-72 Bret Guetz...................... 68-68-73 Josh McCumber........... 71-65-73 Chris Parra.................... 68-69-72 Jason Dufner................. 66-72-71 B. J. Staten..................... 71-67-71
210 (E ) Lee M. Williamson........ 68-68-74 211 (+ 1 ) Nick Beach.............. 70-67-74 Jim Rutledge................. 71-66-74 212 (+ 2 ) Tim O’Neal..................... 70-68-74 214 (+ 4 ) Ben Bates...................... 69-68-77
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