JUPITER, Fla. – Nick Latimer of Cleveland, Ohio, birdied the second extra hole Tuesday for his 12th victory on the Minor League Golf Tour. He was among four players tied at four under par 67 at Abacoa Golf Club. Latimer received $900 from the $5,450 purse and an additional $170 from an optional bonus pool for a total of $1,070.
In the playoff, Jamie Sinderlar of Horseheads, NY, and Zach Zaback of Farmington, CT, were eliminated with par-5's at the 10th hole. At the par-4 11th, Latimer made his winning putt, a 6-footer, moments after Rasmey Kong of North Haven, CT, missed his birdie putt from 15 feet. In regulation, Latimer, Sindelar and Zaback each had five birdies and a bogey, Kong four birdies.
Latimer went out in 30 then proceeded to hit hit drive right down the middle on the par-5 10th hole. He had a brain lapse and marked his ball and picked it up thinking the local rule of lift, clean and place was in effect. The minute he did it he realized what he had done. He replaced the ball and penalized himself one shot for moving a ball at rest. But it was still meant for him to win as he birdied both playoff holes to make the pain of his mistake go away. Way to not give up Nick!
For this tournament, the MLGT changed the par-5 second hole to a par-4. Abacoa still played 7,137 yards compared to 7,220 yards and par-72 in the past.
7 players chose to enter the optional 3-day cumulative bonus pool where scores from all three 1-day events this week count towards. The entry fee was $100 and 100% of the entries go into the purse creating a prize pool of $700. Here is the leaderboard after the second event.