SOUTHPORT, N.C. – Former Chattanooga golfer Bryce Ledford entered the final round of the eGolf Tour’s Championship at St. James Plantation five shots off the lead after a difficult third-round 77 on Friday but recovered in dramatic fashion, posting seven final-round birdies en route to a scintillating 6-under 66 that delivered his first career eGolf Tour title, as well as the event’s $18,000 first-place prize.
The Championship at St. James Plantation was the fifth of 24 scheduled events on the 2013 eGolf Tour schedule and was contested this week at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Reserve Club at St. James Plantation.
Ledford began the week at St. James in solid fashion, opening with rounds of 71-68=139 to grab a share of the 36-hole lead at 5-under par, tied with Tim Madigan of Rio Rancho, N.M.
On Friday, Ledford struggled, bogeying four of his final nine holes to post a third-round 77, falling out of the lead and into a tie for sixth heading into Saturday’s fourth and final round.
“After the second round, I practiced for about two hours,” said Ledford, 28. “To be honest, I was pretty worn out yesterday and somewhat ran out of gas there on the back nine.”
Refreshed and ready to make a charge, Ledford walked into the final round trailing 54-hole leader Ryan Sullivan of Winston-Salem, N.C., by five shots, sitting at even-par 216 with just 18 holes to play.
“I birdied the first hole today and that was a big momentum swinger,” said Ledford. “Unfortunately, I three-putted No. 2 for bogey, but made birdies on Nos. 4 and 9 to get back in it.”
Ledford’s front-nine rally took him to 2-under for the tournament, and timed well with early round struggles by Sullivan – who birdied the first but bogeyed Nos. 4, 5, 7 and 9 to turn at 3-over 39.
“I knew I had a chance if I could just have a good back nine, and a little bit of help from ahead of me,” said Ledford, who was actually tied for the lead at 2-under when he arrived at the tee of the short par-4 11th.
Starting with No. 11, Ledford began to put on a proverbial final-round clinic at St. James, posting birdies at 11, 12 and 13 to vault to 5-under par and put him in total control of the tournament. The birdie at 13, one of the course’s more daunting par-3s, came in the form of a 25-foot birdie bomb.
“I did not look at a leaderboard until the 14th hole. After the putt at 13, I realized that I had a pretty good lead there,” he said.
Ledford’s clutch birdie pulled him one clear of Madigan, who had birdied 10 and 12 to move to 4-under par, just one back.
At the same par-3 13th that gave Ledford the lead, Madigan watched as his tee shot plugged in a greenside bunker, in turn giving way to a bogey that dropped him two shots back.
After near misses at both the par-4 14th and par-4 15th, Ledford again rose to the occasion with a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th that found the bottom of the cup. The late-round two moved the former Moc golfer (2004-07) to 6-under for the round and for the tournament.
With two holes to play, Ledford’s only real challenge came from his own threesome, as playing competitor Travis Ross of Crookston, Minn., birdied 14 and 16 to reach 3-under par – at the time, just three shots back.
At the par-5 17th, Ledford looked to be in control after putting his second shot on the green, roughly 20 feet from the hole. The eagle try, which would have moved him to a tournament-ending 8-under par, turned into a three-putt par that kept him at 6-under after Ledford missed a 3-foot birdie putt.
“I hit two great shots on 17, then gave the birdie putt a little too much respect,” said Ledford after the round. “It looked so fast, down grain and sitting on that edge. I just misread it.”
The unlikely par at 17 left Ledford with a two-shot cushion heading to the 18th, as Ross managed to birdie the par-5 to reach 4-under par.
On the tee of the par-4 finishing hole, a confused Ledford thought he was only one shot clear of Ross, as opposed to being two shots in front.
“I thought he (Ross) started the day at 1-over, but he actually started at 2-over,” said Ledford. “I knew he was 6-under today, I just wasn’t clear what he was for the week.”
A poor tee shot that found a left-side fairway bunker left Ledford with a somewhat treacherous shot over a hazard from 150 yards out. A well-struck 8-iron to the back fringe, however, set up a downhill two-putt par that gave the Tennessee native a stunning final-round 66 and a two-shot win over Ross – who pared the last as well.
“It feels awesome to win out here. There are a lot of great players out here – a lot of really good players come from this tour,” said Ledford, whose 6-under 282 tally was the highest winning score in the tournament’s four-year history. “The courses are awesome, especially this one. It’s just really exciting.”
The win was Ledford’s first since claiming a mini-tour title in Georgia in the summer of 2011 and occurred in his first eGolf Tour start since 2010. Prior to the week at St. James, his best tour finish was a T16 at the FairwayStyles.com Open in March 2009.
“I’m looking forward to playing out here the rest of the year,” he said. “You guys play some really nice courses. Look at this week – this place was in unreal condition. It was a lot of fun.”