Birdie on 71st hole clinches State Open for Max Hosking

MEQUON – Max Hosking shuffled sideways on the 17th green as his 50-foot putt trundled across the lightning-fast putting surface, started running out of steam and slowed to a near stop just short of the cup.

“Please do it!” Hosking yelled, and his golf ball obeyed, tumbling over the front edge for a birdie on the 71st hole of the 97th Wisconsin State Open.

That gave Hosking, 27, of Madison, a two-shot lead and he held on to win the state’s premier event by one Wednesday at North Shore Country Club.

“Honestly, it was just one of those moments where you’re just trying to get the speed (right),” Hosking said. “I wasn’t thinking about making it at all. After all the good putts I hit throughout the day that didn’t go in – I burned a few edges and I missed a couple short ones – it was good to get a little redemption.

“I think I earned that one.”

Hosking, a professional who has played on the PGA Tour-sanctioned Mackenzie Tour in Canada, also earned $10,000 for what he called “the best (victory) I’ve ever had in my life, for sure.”

“I’m going to be moving to Arizona and the lifetime exemption (as a past champion) is as important as the $10,000, if not more so,” he said. “I get to come back every year.”

Hosking shot an even-par 72 after moving into contention with a 67 in the morning half of the 36-hole finale. He finished at 5-under 283, one stroke ahead of amateur Phillip Johnson of Colgate and two ahead of amateurs Matthew Bachmann of Sheboygan Falls and Garrett Jones of Madison.

Johnson, 21, who leaves Thursday for his senior year at the University of Dayton, took a one-shot lead into the final round but struggled mightily off the tee. He hit the first fairway and then didn’t hit another one until No. 14. He wound up hitting just four fairways and nine greens in regulation.

Still, Johnson hung tough, birdied the final two holes and shot a 74 to finish second at 284.

“I couldn’t hit any fairways,” he said. “It was pretty disgusting. I’m happy to finish low amateur but it kind of stinks because it’s not very often you get into contention in the State Open.”

Jones, a reinstated amateur, moved into a share of the lead with Hosking at 4-under with a birdie on No. 16 but then gave back the stroke with a costly bogey on the par-3 17th.

“I hit a great shot on 17, a 5-iron right where I was looking,” said Jones, who closed with a 72. “It bounded through the green and down the hill and I just didn’t get up and down. I missed an 8-footer.”

Jones got a couple of huge breaks on the back nine, holing out from 70 yards for a birdie on No. 10 and making a par on No. 13 after his wayward tee shot stayed in bounds by a few feet.

“I thought it was my turn to win,” he said.

Bachmann, a rising sophomore at Marquette University and the reigning Big East champion, shot a 70 and tied Jones at 285. In the morning round, he was 6-under through 12 holes and pulled to within a stroke of the lead before making three consecutive bogeys and settling for a 69.

Ben Bendtsen III of Mount Pleasant closed with a 74 and finished fifth alone at 286.

Eight players held or shared the lead over the final 54 holes before Hosking, a former State Junior champion, took control with his birdie on No. 17. He went to the 18th tee with a two-shot lead, split the fairway with his drive on the 446-yard par-4 and then hit his approach to within 20 feet.

But Johnson made it interesting by rolling in a 10-foot birdie putt, forcing Hosking to two-putt for the victory.

His first putt had stopped about 2½ feet left of the cup – just far enough to raise his blood pressure a bit – but he calmly rolled in the clinching par putt.

“I knew I needed two putts to win,” he said. “I should be able to two-putt from there 1,000 times in a row, but it changes when it’s the final round of the State Open, a tournament you’ve dreamed about winning.

“This is as good as it gets for me.”

97TH WISCONSIN STATE OPEN

North Shore Country Club

Par 72; 6,916 yards

a-amateur

FINAL RESULTS

283: Maxwell Hosking (71-73-67-72).

284: a-Phillip Johnson (70-70-70-74).

285: a-Matthew Bachmann (75-71-69-70); a-Garrett Jones (69-70-74-72).

286: Ben Bendtsen III (69-73-70-74).

288: Brandon Cloete (71-73-73-71).

289: a-Brian Murtagh (69-74-71-75).

290: Jeffrey Kaiser (75-72-71-72); Zach Gaugert (71-75-72-72); Kaylor Steger (70-71-74-75).

291: a-Jim Lemon (71-73-73-74).

292: Ryan Helminen (71-77-72-72); Peter Webb (73-75-69-75); Andrew Steinhofer (73-73-73-73); Charlie Delsman (75-70-71-76); Joshua Udelhofen (70-73-76-73).

293: David Roesch (71-70-71-81).

294: Pat Steffes (71-75-71-77); Andrew Hansen (73-72-73-76); Jordan Elsen (75-69-74-76).

295: Andy Buege (69-79-74-73); a-Michael Harris (70-76-76-73).

296: a-Piercen Hunt (73-75-74-74); a-Eddie Wajda (72-72-75-77); Jim Schuman (78-73-67-78); a-Patrick Duffy (74-70-70-82).

297: a-Sam Madsen (71-74-72-80); a-Trevor Thomas (71-71-77-78); Keegan Drugan (75-77-74-71).

298: Joe Leonard (74-75-75-74); Kyle Henning (75-74-73-76).

299: Michael Higgins (73-74-76-76); Mick Smith (72-74-74-79); a-Ricky Kuiper (77-73-70-79).

300: a-Charles Maleki (78-72-73-77); Kraig Joy (79-71-76-74); Dylan Koster (72-79-74-75); a-Jed Baranczyk (76-75-70-79); a-Aaron Gavin (71-80-73-76).

301: Kyle Kunash (72-75-76-78); a-Harrison Ott (74-73-78-76); Cody Strang (77-75-73-76).

302: John Langhoff (72-77-80-73); Michael Crowley (73-73-76-80); Tom Boockmeier (75-76-74-77); a-Zach Hentrich (76-75-75-76).

304: Kurt Mantyla (72-78-77-77); a-Robbie Morway (76-74-79-75); a-Nicholas Nelson (81-71-75-77).

305: Thomas Burton (79-73-77-76).

306: Steve Krause (74-77-81-74).

307: Joe DeRosa (75-74-76-82); Charlie Brown (76-75-77-79); Mark Voeller (73-79-78-77).

308: Alex Gaugert (72-78-78-80).

309: Tim McCormick (72-77-79-81); Neal Grusczynski (77-74-81-77).

311: David Bach (74-78-79-80).

317: a-George Kneiser (76-75-82-84).