Wright’s steady play earns him close win over Wood
Shooting par over the final six holes — at the same time his main adversary was stumbling to the finish — was enough for Tyler Wright to move from second back into first, salvage his worst round of the week and lay claim to the Saskatchewan Amateur men’s golf championship.
Despite shooting a fourover 76 in Thursday’s final round at Deer Park Municipal Golf Club in Yorkton, Wright was steady when he needed to be, most notably pars on No. 16, 17 and 18 to finish the four-week tournament at two-under (71-68-71-76—286). Wright wound up one stroke ahead of Prince Albert’s Cory Selander (72-72-74-69—287), P.A.’s Danny Klughart (72-72-69-74—287), Saskatoon’s Matt Procyshen (73-73-72-69—287) and defending champion Justin Wood (76-70-65-76—287) from Unity.
An hour or so before the finish, it would have been tough to predict anything but a Wood repeat. He was sitting pretty after 12 holes on Thursday, three strokes up on a struggling Wright and shooting even-par for the round. One day after carding a seven-under 65, however, Wood’s game fell apart in those final six holes. Wood bogeyed No. 14 and 15, and after parring No. 16 was at three-under, just one stroke up on Wright.
When Wood bogeyed No. 17, he fell back square with Wright at two-under with one hole left to play. The momentum carried over to the final hole: a par for Wright and bogey for Wood was the difference as Wright claimed the comefrom-behind, one-shot victory.
Over those decisive final holes, Wright shot par on No. 12, 14, 16, 17 and 18, birdied No. 13 and bogeyed No. 15.