Whittaker and Ryan Advance to Finals at MGA Senior Players Championship

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By Nick Hunter
nhunter23@hotmail.com


  WACONIA, Minn. – For Steve Whittaker, the past couple of seasons has seen its ups and downs. He won the State Senior Open in 2010 followed by the State Senior Amateur in 2011.

Last year he had a knee replaced and was still rehabbing spinal cord surgery as he played in the Minnesota Golf Associations Senior Players Championship, playing five rounds of golf in three days advancing to the finals in the process before losing to David Kokesh, 2 and 1.

Three days after the Senior Players Championship, Whittaker had rotator cuff surgery and has played little golf since then.

In the first round Tuesday, Whittaker, the 2011 MGA Senior Player of the Year, edged Tom Nordstrom in 22 holes. Wednesday Whittaker outlasted James Lehman and defending champ Kokesh to again reach the finals.

“I’m just thankful to God for the healing on my back, my knees and my shoulder,” Whittaker said Thursday after advancing to his second straight finals match. “I’ve taken nearly a year off; I haven’t played more than 18 holes because of my back which I have to ice afterwards. I’m just happy to be here.”

In the quarterfinals against Lehman Thursday, Whittaker found himself with an early lead as he was 2-up through five holes. Whittaker won the sixth hole and birdied the eighth hole to take a 4-up lead to the final nine holes.

On the back nine, Lehman, Windsong Farm, took advantage of Whittaker’s only two miscues as he made bogey and Lehman won the 10th and 12th holes to cut Whittaker’s lead to 2-up. Whittaker battled back to win the 13th hole and would birdie the 14th to again take a 4-up lead with just four holes to play.

Lehman and Whittaker would both par the 15th and Whittaker clinched the match 4 and 3.

In the semifinals, Whittaker would look for redemption as he faced defending champion Kokesh of Bent Creek Golf Club. Kokesh took an early lead going 2-up through four holes, but really struggled on the final 14 holes.

Kokesh bogeyed the par-4 fifth hole and saw his lead fall to 1-up. The two halved the sixth hole before the match took a drastic swing. Kokesh would bogey four consecutive holes to not only give away the lead, but to find himself 3-down after 10 holes.

The two halved 11 and 12 and another bogey on 13 for Kokesh, gave Whittaker a giant 4-up lead with just five holes to play. Both parred the 15th and Whittaker closed out the match on the 15th with a par to win 4 and 3.

“For me it’s a lot of golf,” Whittaker said after the semifinal match. “In a tournament like this where you play 36 holes—you’re not going to have your best round every time. All you can do is grind it out, stay focused and play one hole at a time.”

“All the players in this tournament are capable of playing par or better. To win matches, you need to get a few breaks and make some putts—that’s the way it goes. I was able to make putts,” Whittaker said.

Asked how his game has responded after the time off and all of the surgeries Whittaker said, “I can hit some really nice shots and I hit some really ugly shots. Everyone over the age of 60 has some kind of medical issue. One of my best friends, Pat Vincelli, is taking chemo for his leukemia; what I have is nothing compared to that. Like I said, I’m just happy to be here.”


RYAN HOLDS OFF CARLSON EN ROUTE TO FINALS

Tom Ryan, Hazeltine National Golf Club, it seems has surprised even himself as he defeated Gary Johnson, Island View Golf Club, in Thursday’s quarterfinals 6 and 5 and then knocked off 2012 MGA Senior Player of the Year, Leif Carlson, 2 and 1 to meet Whittaker in the finals.

“I had no expectations coming into this week. I’ve played in this tournament three times; I lost in the first round one year and lost in the second a couple of years ago. I had shoulder surgery last fall and just started playing better the last couple of weeks,” Ryan said.

In his quarterfinal match against Johnson, Ryan found himself 1-down after the first hole when he bogeyed the par-5 first. Ryan would quickly turn the match around as he won the next three holes to take a 2-up lead after four holes.

The two would halve the next four holes before Ryan increased his lead by winning the ninth and 10th holes to gain a 4-up lead. Ryan took a commanding 5-up lead after Johnson bogeyed the par-4 12th hole and Ryan would close out the match with a birdie on the 13th hole to win 6 and 5.

In Thursday’s semifinal match against Carlson, it was Ryan who got out to a quick lead after Carlson bogeyed the par-4 second hole. With another bogey on the fourth hole, Ryan’s lead increased to 2-up and remained that way through eight holes.

Carlson, Valleywood Golf Course, took advantage of one of Ryan’s few mistakes as he bogeyed the ninth and Carlson found himself 1-down at the turn. That would be as close as Carlson would come as two bogeys on the 11th and 13th proved too much to overcome as Ryan went 3-up with only five holes to play. Carlson had a small window of opportunity after a birdie on the par-3 16th and he pulled back to 2-down but both would par the 17th hole and Ryan would clinch a spot in the finals with a 2 and 1 victory.

“I just made pars. I kept saying, ‘fairways, greens and two putts,’” Ryan said after his semifinal win. “My short irons were working well; I don’t think I missed a green with a 7-iron or down in my hands. I made several five to eight foot putts when I had to; a couple to win holes and a couple to tie. Keeping the ball in the fairway was important.”

Ryan, the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the MGA, joked about the only advantage of being a senior player, “I’m glad I’m a senior and can ride in a cart. I walked yesterday morning, but was too tired to walk the second round. With the hot weather today I decided to take the cart again, so riding helps."

Ryan knows he’ll need to bring everything he has to the finals as Whittaker’s road to the championship consisted of beating some of the toughest competitors in the field.

“I’m going to have to beat one of the toughest match-play players tomorrow. He beat the defending champion, he beat Jim Lehman and he beat a senior amateur stroke play champ to get to the finals. He’s tough. I’ve never played with him but he’s a wonderful guy so it’s going to be fun to play with him,” Ryan said.

Whittaker and Ryan are scheduled to tee off the championship match at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

For complete tournament results go to: http://ghintpp.com/mngolf/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsMatch.aspx?archive=match&id=487