April 2, 2007
This story is from the Golfweek website:
http://www.golfweek.com/amateur/mens/index.php
CHARLESTON, S.C. - A Deacon disguised in Bulldog clothing is the 2007 Azalea Amateur Invitational champion - for the second time in four years.
Webb Simpson, a sophomore at Wake Forest, hit "the best shot I ever hit in my life" on the second playoff hole to make birdie and defeat Florida sophomore Billy Horschel on Sunday at the Country Club of Charleston.
Simpson and Horschel finished 72 holes of regulation at 6-under 278, one stroke better than Kyle Ellis of the University of Mississippi and Georgia's Chris Kirk. Arnond 'Bank' Vongvanij, who will be a freshman at Florida this fall, was fifth at 4-under 280 while third-round leader Luke List, a senior at Vanderbilt, finished at 281.
Simpson, No. 1 in the Golfweek/Titleist Amateur Rankings, birdied the demanding 492-yard, par-4 finishing hole and then watched Horschel, playing in the final group, miss a 5-foot par putt to initiate the playoff.
Simpson closed with a 68 while Horschel, a first-team All-American last season, shot 69.
Both parred the first extra hole. At the par-4, 384-yard second, Horschel found the fairway off the tee while Simpson pulled his shot into a fairway bunker. The ball was about two inches from the lip and forced Simpson to take an awkward stance outside the bunker with his left foot a good 2 feet higher than his right.
After Horschel hit his approach shot to within 12 feet of the pin, Simpson nailed his 9-iron shot from 120 yards to 3 feet. Horschel's birdie try hung on the right edge, setting the stage for Simpson to sink his putt and add another Azalea title to his '04 victory.
"That was the best shot I've ever hit in my life, regardless of the pressure," said Simpson, whose last victory came the first week of June 2006 at the Sunnehanna Amateur. "I had to hit it perfectly. I was fortunate it came out just right. Then I figured I'd better not miss the putt after pulling off a shot like that."
Horschel was disappointed, but had no regrets.
"It was a good week," he said. "I played well today. I didn't have a bogey until the 18th. In fact, I bogeyed that hole all four days ... from the middle of the fairway. I hit a good putt (on the second playoff hole) but it just missed. Give Webb credit, he hit a great shot in there. I mean, that's just quality."
Simpson and Kirk got into the April Fool's Day mood from the start. The two look very much alike and are often confused with each other. So the night before, with the encouragement of friends, they decided to play a switch since they were paired in the penultimate grouping.
They exchanged shirts, hats and even their golf bags - Kirk wearing and carrying the Wake Forest logo and colors and Simpson the Georgia logo and colors. Kirk's caddy even wore a Wake shirt and hat and Simpson's had a Georgia hat.
"We just thought it would be kind of fun, especially since it was April Fool's Day. A lot of people are always calling me Webb and Webb, Chris," said Kirk, who had three people come up to him around the scoreboard at the end and congratulate him on the win.
It was a wild final round, especially on the back nine. Kirk, No. 3 in the Golfweek/Titleist Amateur Rankings, made bogeys on the final two holes.
The day began with Luke List at 8 under, four shots in front of Horschel.
List, who won the Jones Cup last month, got to 10 under and had a four-shot lead over Horschel, Kirk and Simpson. But he played the back side in 7 over.
Both Simpson and Horschel said at the start of the day they felt they would have to shoot 65 or 66 to have a chance.
But the wind and a tough golf course evened things out over the final nine holes, making for one of the more exciting finishes in the 59-year history of this prestigious amateur tournament.
"I feel my game is coming back around and winning here will definitely be a big confidence boost," Simpson said. "There were a lot of very good players here this week and that makes it that much more special."
Final scores with relation to par from the Azalea Amateur, played April 1 at the par-71, 6,809-yard Country Club of Charleston (S.C.):
1. Webb Simpson 70-69-71-68--278 -6
2. Billy Horschel 71-68-70-69--278 -6
3. Kyle Ellis 72-67-73-67--279 -5
3. Chris Kirk 73-67-70-69--279 -5
5. Arnond Vongvanij 70-67-72-71--280 -4
6. Luke List 72-66-67-76--281 -3
7. John Finster 70-69-76-67--282 -2
7. Trent Leon 75-71-69-67--282 -2
7. Jordan Byrd 75-70-67-70--282 -2
10. Keir McNicoll 73-70-68-72--283 -1
10. Brendon Todd 74-68-68-73--283 -1
12. Tyler Leon 73-71-68-72--284 E
13. Tanner Ervin 72-76-67-70--285 +1
13. Morgan Hoffmann 70-72-71-72--285 +1
13. Ryan Hybl 68-74-72-71--285 +1
13. Hudson Swafford 72-69-73-71--285 +1
17. Alan Bratton 75-72-71-68--286 +2
17. Luke Hopkins 77-69-69-71--286 +2
17. Nathan T. Smith 68-72-74-72--286 +2
17. Brad Marek 74-74-65-73--286 +2
17. Gene Elliott 73-73-67-73--286 +2
17. Brent Wicher 68-73-70-75--286 +2
17. Rickie Fowler 68-75-68-75--286 +2
17. Peter Uihlein 68-74-69-75--286 +2
25. Frank Vana 70-72-76-70--288 +4
26. Robert Gerwin 71-76-69-73--289 +5
26. Brian Harman 72-72-72-73--289 +5
28. Kevin Tway 77-69-71-73--290 +6
28. Tim Jackson 77-72-72-69--290 +6
28. Tyson Alexander 75-70-71-74--290 +6
31. William Miller 72-72-71-76--291 +7
32. Walter Todd 72-75-71-74--292 +8
33. Kelly Miller 74-76-67-76--293 +9
33. Brad Wilder 74-75-72-72--293 +9
35. Pat Tallent 69-71-76-78--294 +10
35. William Mitchell 75-78-70-71--294 +10
35. Bert Atkinson 78-72-73-71--294 +10
38. Michael Morrison 74-73-72-76--295 +11
38. Michael Barbosa 78-74-70-73--295 +11
38. Steven Liebler 77-73-72-73--295 +11
41. Paul Simson 67-79-72-78--296 +12
41. Drew Kittleson 75-70-76-75--296 +12
41. Mike McCoy 75-78-69-74--296 +12
41. Jeff Knox 72-77-73-74--296 +12
41. Spencer Cole 73-74-75-74--296 +12
46. Dalton Melnyk 76-73-72-76--297 +13
46. Buzz Peel 73-72-77-75--297 +13
48. Walker Taylor 77-75-70-76--298 +14
48. Buddy Marucci 77-76-72-73--298 +14
48. Jack Larkin 79-74-73-72--298 +14
51. Chip Lutz 74-73-75-77--299 +15
51. Ryan Holler 75-74-74-76--299 +15
51. Cordes Ford 75-75-74-75--299 +15
51. Robert Dargan 75-73-76-75--299 +15
55. Tripp Davis 71-75-78-76--300 +16
55. Chappell Brown 75-80-71-74--300 +16
55. Benjamin Day 80-74-72-74--300 +16
58. Brady Exber 74-76-74-77--301 +17
59. John Finnin 73-76-77-76--302 +18
60. Wes Homan 75-74-75-79--303 +19
60. David Nelson 76-78-72-77--303 +19
62. Danny Nelson 75-76-75-78--304 +20
63. Matt Sughrue 79-74-72-80--305 +21
64. Roy Hunter 75-72-77-82--306 +22
65. Michael Atkieson 76-76-74-83--309 +25
• • •
Missed the cut
66. Frank Ford III 77-79-71--227 +14
66. Richard Douglas 79-75-73--227 +14
66. Greg Earnhardt 77-76-74--227 +14
66. Bob Burton 73-79-75--227 +14
66. Harold Wyatt 76-75-76--227 +14
66. Tim Tang 72-78-77--227 +14
72. Matt Wood 82-73-73--228 +15
72. Thomas Smith 79-73-76--228 +15
72. Macon B. Moye 77-74-77--228 +15
72. Whitfield Massey 74-74-80--228 +15
72. Bill Williamson 72-76-80--228 +15
77. Danny Green 80-76-73--229 +16
77. Rick Cloninger 77-78-74--229 +16
77. Jack Hall 80-75-74--229 +16
80. Kip Parks 80-76-74--230 +17
80. Keith Waters 78-78-74--230 +17
80. Steve Slayden 79-76-75--230 +17
80. John Wright 79-76-75--230 +17
84. Chris Brauner 82-76-73--231 +18
84. Alan Fadel 77-78-76--231 +18
84. Rob Wilson 76-76-79--231 +18
84. Sean Goshert 74-77-80--231 +18
88. Stephen Mappus 78-78-76--232 +19
88. Terry Ezell 76-80-76--232 +19
88. Mike Crews 77-79-76--232 +19
88. Bill Smunk 77-77-78--232 +19
88. Dan Crockett 73-77-82--232 +19
93. Roy Neal 79-77-77--233 +20
93. Dean Channell 80-74-79--233 +20
95. Michael Bailey 82-80-73--235 +22
95. Jim Burgess 78-81-76--235 +22
97. Joe Palmer 79-81-76--236 +23
97. Tommy Ford 73-85-78--236 +23
97. Wynn Solle 80-78-78--236 +23
100. Robert Stelben 75-81-81--237 +24
101. Gus Sylvan 80-79-80--239 +26
102. Hank Jones 80-82-78--240 +27
102. Richard Ross 85-72-83--240 +27
104. Michael Caprio 80-83-80--243 +30
105. Jay Poston 89-80-75--244 +31
106. Robin Gamble 82-81-82--245 +32
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