What a finish
- Updated: June 4, 2022
LeCroy catches fire on last four holes, plays them in 5-under, shoots 67 again, leads ACC Invitational by 7
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
The back nine at Anniston Country Club wasn’t being as kind to Jacob LeCroy as it was in the opening round Saturday, but things have a way of turning quickly back there.
All of a sudden the South Alabama junior drops back-to-back birdies to open the closing stretch of holes and just like that he has a big lead.
But that literally was just the half of it. LeCroy lit up the final four holes in 5-under-par to cap a second straight 67 that gave him a seven-shot lead going into Championship Sunday of the Wilfred Galbraith ACC Invitational.
After turning in 2-over and parring each of the first five holes on the back, he went birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie to close and put a lot of distance between himself and current T2s Gary Wigington and Ryan Howard. Wigington shared the second-best round of the day with Kevin Daugherty (69).
“That was awesome; that’s the best close I’ve ever had,” LeCroy said. “I’m excited I did that. Honestly, I had no nerves going into it. I was just out there playing … I was OK with any outcome. I wasn’t even worried about anything else going on. It was a great mentality.
“Because that’s what it took. I happened to go birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie. No one else is doing that today.”
Not even in the PGA Tour event that was on the television in the 19th Hole.
It really did seem to come out of nowhere. He left it short on 10, made par on the par-5 11th from 145 yards into the green, missed putts on 12, 13 and 14, then hit it to 10 feet from between two trees on 15 and made it to break the ice.
When he made a 40-footer from the back of the green and over the slope on 16 and gave it a hearty but uncharacteristic fist pump when it disappeared into the cup, you had the sense something special was about to happen. Over the first two days, he played the back nine in 9-under-par.
“I was waiting to see that one putt fall,” he said. “Every putt I hit was a good putt, I just didn’t make anything and I was OK with that. All we can do as golfers is give it our all, pick our line, commit and go. It happened to flip and once I saw that first one fall on 15 it was just like, ‘all right, there it is, finally.’
“If you ever get up there close to me you’ll hear me every putt I hit (whisper to himself) ‘let’s just commit.’ All it is is an educated guess and I happened to catch fire. There are days every one of those putts is going to miss and there are going to be days you’re going to make two of them. Today it happened to be awesome.”
Just as impressive as the way LeCroy was closing his round was the way Howard was making putts down the stretch – or rather what he was making them with.
The broomstick putter he’s been using for about a year to combat another set of putting problems was frustrating him for two days, so after threatening it earlier in the round, he simply putted with the wedge he used to knock the ball on the green to get it in the hole. He used it twice and made both of them – a 4½-footer on 16 for par and a 3½-footer with a healthy break from above the hole for birdie on 17.
They joked about running back for it on 18 after knocking his first putt close to the hole, but it was close enough to just clean it up with the long putter.
LeCroy had heard of players putting with their wedges, usually after breaking their putter during the round, but he’d never seen it in practice until Saturday. He did agree it was a good tempo drill – for the practice green.
“I heard him on 7 say the wedge was coming out,” the tournament leader said. “I asked him on the next hole and he was like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s about to come out on certain putts.’ So, I go, ‘Man, if I get beat by a guy putting with a wedge, I’m not showing up tomorrow.’ Thank God it didn’t happen.”
Howard had never attempted such a thing in competition before, but felt he had to do something. Missing short putts with annoying regularity was driving him crazy. He missed a three-footer for par on 7 and brought the wedge with him to 8, but the length of that putt didn’t make it a viable option.
Now it’s an option for any putt between 3½ and 6 feet. He “most likely” will use it Sunday depending how things go early in the round with the long putter.
“I told Jacob it’s weird when you’ve got to contemplate club selection on the putting green,” Howard said. “That tells you how mental it is. For people who have never experienced the yips or anything of that nature, it’s hard to explain.”
Wilfred Galbraith ACC Invitational
| CHAMPIONSHIP A | |||
| Jacob LeCroy | 67 | 67 | 134 |
| Ryan Howard | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| Gary Wigington | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| Woodie Eubanks | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| Brennan Clay | 69 | 75 | 144 |
| Kevin Daugherty | 75 | 69 | 144 |
| Andrew Gladden | 71 | 74 | 145 |
| Freeman Fite | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| Eric Howle | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| Landon Straub | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| Randy Lipscomb | 75 | 71 | 146 |
| Sawyer Edwards | 72 | 75 | 147 |
| Jaylon Ellison | 74 | 73 | 147 |
| CHAMPIONSHIP B | |||
| Dalton Chandler | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| Jeremy McGatha | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| Ross Napier | 75 | 74 | 149 |
| Layton Bussey | 76 | 73 | 149 |
| Ty Cole | 73 | 77 | 150 |
| Will Reaves | 74 | 76 | 150 |
| Chandler Wilborn | 76 | 74 | 150 |
| Jonathan Pate | 77 | 74 | 151 |
| Timmy Woodard | 79 | 73 | 152 |
| Harrison Hughston | 77 | 76 | 153 |
| Morton Holcomb | 75 | 79 | 154 |
| Scott Martin | 78 | 76 | 154 |
| Chip Howell | 79 | 75 | 154 |
| CHAMPIONSHIP C | |||
| Clay Calkins | 75 | 80 | 155 |
| Jake Goggans | 77 | 79 | 156 |
| Chad Key | 79 | 77 | 156 |
| Andrew Brooks | 75 | 82 | 157 |
| Cole McNeal | 80 | 77 | 157 |
| Gage Miller | 77 | 81 | 158 |
| Brandon Fincher | 80 | 78 | 158 |
| Cain Hollingsworth | 77 | 82 | 159 |
| Blayne Armstrong | 80 | 80 | 160 |
| Taylor Morrow | 80 | 80 | 160 |
| Nick Ledbetter | 77 | 84 | 161 |
| Hunter Carr | 78 | 89 | 167 |
| Cohen Picton | 80 | 92 | 172 |
| PLAYERS A | |
| Zach Mangum | 74 |
| Tyler Simmons | 74 |
| Ott Chandler | 75 |
| Matt Hunter | 76 |
| Billy Thompson | 76 |
| Keaton Borrelli | 76 |
| Dyron Johnson | 77 |
| Will Broome | 77 |
| Michael Downey | 78 |
| Eric Boutwell | 78 |
| Wesley Jenkins | 78 |
| Mark Durden | 79 |
| PLAYERS B | |
| Charlie Smith | 81 |
| Matt Hartdegen | 82 |
| Houston Black | 82 |
| Lamar Carter | 83 |
| Brian Stewart | 84 |
| Heath Waldrop | 84 |
| Henry Pritchett | 84 |
| Matt Rogers | 84 |
| Haden Downey | 84 |
| Luke Armstrong | 84 |
| Riley Boyd | 85 |
| Addison Wood | 86 |
| Shaughn Rankin | 86 |
| Tyler Huckaby | 86 |
| SENIOR FLIGHT | |
| Don Springer | 82 |
| Tom Roberts | 85 |
| Don Whitlow | 93 |
| PLAYERS C | |
| Drey Reeves | 87 |
| Greg Rainey | 87 |
| Jason Britton | 87 |
| Noah Flynn | 87 |
| Taylor Jones | 87 |
| Andrew Betts | 87 |
| Kenneth Willingham | 88 |
| Josh Davis | 88 |
| Corey Mize | 88 |
| Sen Kline | 89 |
| Sawyer Parks | 89 |
| Chance Haywood | 89 |
| PLAYERS D | |
| Kolby Slick | 91 |
| Eric Stringer | 91 |
| Jake Pollard | 91 |
| Matt Peters | 91 |
| Austin Elliott | 91 |
| Joe Hedgepeth | 92 |
| Will Hollingsworth | 92 |
| Alex Freeman | 93 |
| Zach Limberis | 94 |
| Jason Payne | 94 |
| Kelly Rogers | 95 |
| Adam Benefiel | 98 |
| Johnny Barnes | 101 |
| Keith Hutcheson | 105 |
| Marlee Hedgepeth | 111 |
Sunday pairings
8 a.m.: Don Springer, Tom Roberts, Don Whitlow
8:12: Johnny Barnes, Keith Hutcheson, Marlee Hedgepeth
8:24: Jason Payne, Kelly Rogers, Adam Benefiel
8:36: Joe Hedgepeth, alex Freeman, Zach Limberis
8:48: Eric Stringer, Jake Pollrd, Matt Peters, Will Hollingsworth
9:00: Sean Kline, Chance Haywood, Kolby Slick, Austin Elliott
9:12: Kenneth Willingham, Josh Davis, Corey Mize, Swayer Parks
9:24: Drey Reeves, Noah Flynn, Andrew Betts, Greg Rainey
9:36: Shaughn Rankin, Jason Britton, Tyler Huckaby, Taylor Jones
9:48: Haden Downey, Luke Armstrong, Riley Boyd, Addison Wood
10:00: Brian Stewart, Heath Waaldrop, Henry Pritchett, Matat Rogers
10:15: Charlie Smith, Matt Hardegen, Houston Blacak, Lamar Carater
10:30: Michael Downey, Eric Boutwell, Wesley Jenkins, Mark Durden
11:00: Billy Thompson, Keaton Borrelli, Dyron Johnson, Will Broome
11:15: Zach Mangum, Tyler Simmons, Ott Chandler, Matt Hunter
11:30: Nick Ledbetter, Hunter Carr, Cohen Picton
11:45: Brandon Fincher, Cain Hollingsworth, Blayne Armstrong, Taylor Morrow
Noon: Chad Key, Cole McNeal, Andrew Brooks, Gage Miller
12:12 p.m.: Morton Holcomb, Chip Howell, Clay Calkins, Jake Goggans
12:24: Jonathan Paate, Timmy Woodrd, Harrison Hughston, Scott Martin
12:36: Ross Napier, Chandler Wilborn, Will Reaves, Ty Cole
12:48: Sawyer Edwards, Dalton Chandler, Jeremy McGatha, Layton Bussey
1:00: Eric Howle, Landon Straub, Andy Lipscomb, Jaylon Ellison
1:12: Brennan Clay, Kevin Daugherty, Andrew Gladden, Freeman Fite
1:24: Jacob LeCroy, Ryan Howard, Gary Wigington, Woodie Eubanks
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