Brookhaven resident Billy Andrade is back in the winner’s circle after 16 years.
Andrade won the Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic last weekend to claim his first individual victory since the 2000 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas. Earlier this season, Andrade teamed with Joe Durant to win the Legends of Golf.
Andrade had some dicey moments on Sunday. He hooked a drive out of bounds, was unplayable with his provisional and eventually chipped in for a triple-bogey 7. But he finished with back-to-back birdies and held off Bernhard Langer by one shot for the win.
“That was the greatest 7 I made in my life,” Andrade said. “I didn’t get flustered. I made a triple, but let’s not let this one hole screw up a great week, was my thought.”
Andrade was part of a Georgia sweep on Sunday. Sea Island’s Davis Love III won the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship and St. Simons resident Patton Kizzire won the Web.com Tour’s News Sentinel Open.
Mueller top Georgian at U.S. Am: Athens native Kyle Mueller didn't have over-inflated expectations for the U.S. Amateur Championship last week and wound up reaching the Round of 16. He was the final member of Georgia delegation left standing.
Mueller said he played poorly the first day, shooting 73, but found something on the range that enabled him to more accurately hit the fairways at Olympia Fields Country Club outside Chicago. He shot a 70 the next day, but a double-bogey on the final hole forced him to participate in an 18-man playoff for the final 10 spots. Mueller needed four extra holes to secure the 64th and final spot for match play.
“My goal was to get to match play,” said Mueller, a sophomore at the University of Michigan. “Once you get to match play, anything can happen.”
Mueller eliminated medalist and No. 1 seed Brett Coletta of Australia 1 up in the first round and bounced Alex Burge of Bloomington, Ill., 2 up in the second round. He was eliminated 2 up in the third round by Kenta Konishi of Japan.
Four other Georgians reached match play. Maverick Antcliff of Augusta and Sepp Straka of Valdosta advanced to the second round. Billy Kennerly of Alpharetta and Lee McCoy of Athens lost in the first round.
Missing the cut were Chris Harris of Atlanta and Doug Hanzel of Savannah (5 over), Chris Guglielmo of Cumming and Shad Tuten of Augusta (6 over), Vince Whaley of Fayetteville (7 over), Jake Harpe of Griffin and Zach Healy of Peachtree Corners (10 over), and Tye Waller of Griffin and Jake Fendt of Suwanee (11 over).
Coble wins Georgia Senior: Augusta's Laura Coble defended her title at the Georgia State Golf Association's Senior Women's Championship. Coble came from three shots behind to finish at 6-over 150 and nip Brenda Pictor of Marietta by two shots at the National Course at Reynolds Plantation.
Etc.: Georgia Tech associate golf coach Brennan Webb has taken the job as head coach at Middle Tennessee State. Webb joined the Yellow Jackets as an assistant in 2012. … John Marshall, an instructor at Steel Canyon Golf Club in Sandy Springs, has been selected to teach in the Golf Channel Swing Fix booth at the Tour Championship at East Lake. The popular instructor and long-drive champion will be teaching Saturday afternoon and possibly all day Sunday.
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