Central Catholic ace’s quest for title put on hold by rain
Meyers’ lead must withstand tests with three groups still yet to finish
Jimmy Meyers has stood over every putt imaginable at Oakmont, but it gave him a special feeling to make a birdie to cap an even-par 71 in the WPIAL Class 3A individual final on his home course.
When he made that putt, Meyers also became the leader in the clubhouse with a six-shot lead over his playing partner Gregor Meyer of Fox Chapel.
And that was as far as he got.
Several weather-related delays extended the event by nearly two hours and forced the WPIAL and Oakmont officials to suspend play with three groups on the course. Each will take to their respective tees at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
In the event of a tie for 14th or 15th for what would be the final spot and the alternate for the PIAA western regional final Oct. 15 at Tom’s Run, the athletic directors of the respective schools would be notified and the players would have a playoff later in the afternoon or evening to solidify the spot.
“It’s very scary and I don’t know if I’ll come back because I miss a lot of school with this, so I might be going to school,” said Meyers, a Central Catholic senior and Penn State recruit. “But I’ll be scrolling on that iPad and iPhone just like crazy because it’s tough that they have to come back for like one hole and I’m just waiting, so it’s definitely going to be tough.”
Seniors Palmer Jackson of Franklin Regional and Brady Pevarnik of Latrobe will tee off on No. 16, Donnie Professori of Pine-Richland and Neal Shipley of Central Catholic will open on No. 17, and Fox Chapel junior Scott Bitar and Franklin Regional sophomore Chuck Tragesser will head over to No. 18.
None of those in the three remaining pairings had teed off on their respective holes, which eliminated the need for marking shots in the fairway or rough.
“To be honest, it’s not going to be hard at all because I know I have to make three birdies or some mathematical something that adds up to 3 under [to win],” Jackson said. “If I don’t do that, I know I’m pretty much going to get through to the next round [the PIAA western regional finals] so I can really go after these last three holes, but it’s disappointing we didn’t finish.”
Pevarnik and Jackson will have the best opportunities to win as Pevarnik is two shots back and Johnson three with two to play. Both had moments where each looked like he would run away with his first WPIAL title, but countered with an equally disastrous hole.
Pevarnik opened with back-to-back birdies before he gave back both strokes on a double-bogey on the par-4 No. 3. Jackson, meanwhile, was at 1 over after he bogeyed both par 3s on the front nine until he closed it out with an eagle on No. 9 to move into the lead at 1 under.
Jackson was the only player to break par in the front after his 35, but his advantage only lasted one hole.
After he made the turn, his tee shot went astray on No. 10 and, after the twostroke penalty for a lost ball, he carded a triple-bogey 7 from which he never recovered.
“On nine, I had about 20 feet from straight above the hole and I backed off at the last second because I didn’t like my line and I lipped in and it was a great putt,” Jackson said.
“I hit driver every time I played on No. 10 at this point, so I stuck with my gut and it was downwind and I flew it farther than I thought I could and it went in the fescue and that stuff was so thick I couldn’t find it, so I re-teed and I made a pretty good seven.”