By Mike Blum
In the third round of the Nationwide Tour Stadion Athens Classic at UGA, Martin Piller carded seven birdies and shot a 64 to begin the final day only one stroke behind leader Daniel Summerhays.
In Sunday’s final round, Piller made just one birdie. But as it turned, that was all he needed.
Piller turned in an even-par 71 with just one bogey, and wound up as the tournament winner when his two primary competitors both stumbled down the stretch. Both Summerhays and Bradley Iles faltered at the finish, leaving the 24-year-old Texas A&M grad with his first Nationwide victory.
Iles fell out of contention first, making a bogey at the par-4 14th and a double bogey at the par-3 16th. That dropped him to fourth at 9-under 275 behind Gary Christian, the only player in the final eight groups to shoot in the 60s the final round. Christian’s 66 jumped him a third place finish at 274, two shots behind Piller.
After two birdies on his first four holes, Summerhays held a 3-stroke lead over both Piller and Iles, but managed just one birdie the rest of the day, that coming at the 15th hole to give him a brief lead. But he bogeyed the pesky 16th and made another at the 18th after missing the green on the lengthy par 4.
Meanwhile, Piller plodded his way along, matching a bogey at the par-4 fourth with a birdie at the 11th, the shortest par-4 on the UGA course, but one with a treacherous green featuring one of the most severe false fronts on any course, anywhere.
“I knew it would be a battle with the course and with Danny,” said Piller, who moved from 16th on the Nationwide Tour money list to 2nd, trailing only former Texas A&M teammate and roommate Bobby Gates.
Piller said his plan was “to be cautious. You had to be smart. I knew nobody was going to run away. Not on this course.”
There were a lot of good scores shot in the final round, including a 64 by Scott Gutschewski, which matched Piller’s Saturday showing as a tournament best. A total of 17 players, about one-quarter of the field, shot in the 60s Sunday, but just two players in the final 13 groups were among the 17.
Christian, who was the lone player to make a move on the three main contenders, was 5-under after 11 and within range of the lead, but a bogey at 16 ended his hopes.
Iles held a share of the first round lead at 66 with Gates, who won the season opener in New Zealand and was third the next week in Australia, and Mark Anderson, who closed with a 68 to tie for fifth at 277. Piller and Summerhays were among a group of six at 67, with a bogey at his final hole of the day (No. 9) dropping Piller out of a share of the lead.
Anderson, Gates and Summerhays followed with strong rounds on Friday to finish in a three-way tie at the top at 7-under 135. Piller was tied for fifth at 137, with a triple bogey 8 at the perilous par-5 12th more than offsetting an eagle on the much more inviting par-5 seventh.
Summerhays, Piller and Iles separated themselves from the field on Saturday. With four straight birdies on the front nine and three more on the back, Summerhays, who was one of the last players to get into the field as an alternate, shot 65 to take a one-shot lead at 13-under 200 despite a bogey at the 18th.
Piller ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch from 5 to 10 and closed with birdies at 17 and 18 for his 64, making up three shots on the last two holes to stand one back at 201.
New Zealand’s Iles was two back at 202 after a 65, closing out the front nine with five straight 3s, an eagle and three birdies in that span.
One day after shooting 64, Piller was content with his a closing 71. He said the difference between the two rounds was “the conditions. They were tough today. Yesterday was perfect. It was muggy, no wind, the greens were soft, right in my wheelhouse. Those were really good scoring conditions.
“With the wind switching today and the pins tucked, it was tricky. You had to pick your spots.”
Piller, who is listed at 5-foot-9, 155 pounds in the Nationwide Tour media guide, averaged 317 yards on the two designated holes for driving distance, but trailed 18 other players who made the cut. He led the field in putts per round (27) despite 33 on Sunday.
The last of the 33 was just a tap-in, as he hit a superb approach to about 7 feet and was able to two-putt after Summerhays missed his par attempt.
“I was shaking. I could not believe how nervous I was.”
Of the victory, Piller said, “I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t stop smiling.”
Piller was 35th on the money list in his first season on the Nationwide Tour in 2009, getting off to a strong start before going the last seven months of the season without a top-20 finish. Coming into Athens, he had three finishes this season between 7th and 11th.
Summerhays, a nephew of Champions Tour player Bruce Summerhays, nearly had his first Nationwide win since capturing one of the tour’s biggest tournaments as an amateur in 2007. He had missed five of his first six cuts this year, and barely managed to get into the field thanks to a tie for 25th earlier this season in Panama.
Iles was 45th in earnings in his second Nationwide season in ’09 and had notched three top-25 finishes along side four missed cuts this year.
Leading the Georgia contingent in the tournament were veteran tour pro Scott Dunlap of Duluth and ex-Bulldog Kevin Kisner of Aiken, S.C., who tied for 10th at 280. Kisner shot 65 in the second and Dunlap carded a 66 the next day.
Ringgold’s Luke List, who is just outside the top 25 on the money list, and rookie pro Brian Harman of Savannah tied for 18th at 281, earning Harman a spot in the next Nationwide event in Greenville, S.C. Harman played his way into the Athens field in a Monday qualifier, having to win a playoff to advance. He made the cut on the number at 143 and shot 66 in the third round.
UGA golf team member Harris English tied for 27th at 282, opening with a 68. Georgia teammate Russell Henley closed with a 67 and tied for 34th at 283 along with former Bulldog Chris Kirk of Woodstock, who is well inside the top 10 on the money list.
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