North Augusta, S.C. – May 6, 2012 – While three different golfers traded the lead during the first three rounds, there was one constant in the Kandy Waters Memorial Classic: the player recording the lowest score of the day was at the top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of play.
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The same held true in the final round of the NGA Pro Golf Tour event at Mount Vintage Plantation on Sunday as Robby Ormand of Austin, Texas, matched the low round of the day with a 5-under 67 to force a playoff with Nick Rousey and won his first NGA Tour event with a birdie on the third extra hole.
“This win is very cool,” said Ormand, who earned $22,000. “It was so much fun being in that situation and coming out on top.” See the post tournament interview with Ormand here.
After carding just one bogey over the first three rounds, Ormand, who started the final round two shots off the lead, continued his steady play on Sunday, navigating the 7,127-yard layout without a blemish for the third time of the week.
With third-round leader Ryan Spears struggling, Ormand, a former Texas Christian University standout, used two birdies on the front side to pull even with Rousey, who started Sunday in second place.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard all day,” said Ormand, who had missed the cut in his three previous NGA Tour starts. “I really tried to worry about myself and not get caught up thinking about where I stood.”
Ormand took the outright lead with a birdie on No. 10, but Rousey of Pensacola, Fla., battled back with birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 to retake the lead. Unfortunately for Rousey, a bogey on No. 15 dropped him back into a tie for the lead, but the University of Alabama alumnus rebounded with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to move out front once again.
Playing the penultimate group, Ormand went to the final hole needing a birdie to pull even. He got it, but it wasn’t for what he thought.
“I thought that birdie was for the win,” said Ormand. “It wasn’t until I finished that I found out it was probably for a playoff.”
Rousey had a chance to end the tournament in regulation, but his par on No. 18 left him with a 4-under 68 and tied for the lead at 21-under par, sending the event into extra holes. After both golfers carded pars on the first two playoff holes, Ormand made a scrambling birdie to end the playoff on the third hole.
“I hit a bad drive and got fortunate,” said Ormand. “I was about two inches out of the bunker and chased it up there. I was pleased with the second shot, but to make the putt was special.”
In addition to etching his name in the record books for the win, Ormand also went into the annals for his first-round 63, which matched PGA Tour rookie Brian Harman’s course record.
“The 63 was just one of those rounds where every number was a good number and you just point and shoot,” said Ormand. “Today’s round was better. The pins were harder, plus the magnitude of everything that was going on. I did what I had to do out there.”
Ormand finished the event with rounds of 63-69-68-67 for a 21-under 267 total and hopes to follow the path of former champions like Camilo Villegas, Joe Affrunti and Casey Wittenberg to the top levels of the game.
“With the history, it’s a great event to win,” said Ormand. “Hopefully, I can keep playing well and continue to move up.”
Rousey, who carded rounds of 65-65-69-68, finished second for the second time in the last three events and earned $11,440 to move into sixth on the money list.
Tyson Alexander of Gainesville, Fla., finished third with rounds of 68-67-67-73 for a 13-under 275 total. Alexander, who won the 2012 Killearn Country Club Classic, earned $8,639 and moved into second on the money list with the podium effort.
Justin Martinson (Avondale, Pa.) and Chase Carroll (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished in a tie for fourth at 12-under par and earned $6,490 each.
Ryan Spears (Del City, Okla.) started the day with the lead, but the 2011 NGA Rookie of the Year carded a 7-over 79 in the final round to fall into a tie for sixth with Mark Silvers (Savannah, Ga.) at 11-under par.
Former collegiate All-Americans Andrew Loupe, an LSU alumnus from Baton Rouge, La., and Jonathan Randolph, an Ole Miss stalwart from Brandon, Miss., finished at 9-under par and tied for eighth with Connor Arendell (Fort Meyers, Fla.).
J.C. Horne (Ormand Beach, Fla.) and Santiago Rivas (Cali, Colombia) finished T11 at 8-under par, while Marc-Etienne Bussieres (Gatineau, Canada), Nemanja Savic (Belgrade, Serbia), Pope Spruiell (Livingston, Ala.), Bo Hoag (Upper Arlington, Ohio), Mike Stern (Miami, Fla.), Cedric Scotto (Mulhouse, France) and Patton Kizzire (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) finished T13 at 7-under par.
Former Augusta State standout Major Manning (Daytona Beach, Fla.) shot a 2-under 70 in the final round to finish in a tie for 40th at 1-under par.
