Californian Biwer Rallies Late to Claim First Career Victory at CRMC Championship in Brainerd

  BRAINERD, Minn. – Frustrated with a total of five double-bogeys at this week’s CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center at Cragun’s Legacy Courses, PGA Tour Americas rookie Justin Biwer was able to fall back on two of the most important clubs in his bag—his driver and his putter.

Biwer missed just four fairways over his 72 holes (92.31 percent) and also led the field in Putts per Green in Regulation (1.42).

Burying his birdie putt from 30 feet at the 72nd hole Sunday earned the 24-year-old Californian the first victory of his career.

“I'm going to look at probably about 66 of those holes and think that's really awesome and try to forget about the other six that were really big numbers,” Biwer said following his two-stroke victory with a final-round 67 Sunday. “Tons of excitement. Just all the work that I've been putting in, feel like I really proved something to myself today.

“Golf is so funny because you could be having struggles—two weeks before, three weeks before, the week before, and you could turn it around super quickly. And I feel like I did a good job of getting back into a good place with golf and the mental side as well. Being able to stay with it every day throughout the rounds, that's the reason why I'm standing here right now.”

Missing back-to-back cuts entering the week ranked 43rd in the points standings, Biwer posted an opening-round 65 and followed it with a 9-under 61 Friday to tie a course record, even with a pair of double-bogeys.

Another 65 during the third round Saturday put the former University of Colorado golfer three shots ahead of the field, searching for his first victory in 11 starts on Tour this season.

A pair of early birdies to begin his final round Sunday were negated by a double-bogey at the fifth, but Biwer came surging back with two birdies and an eagle to close out his opening nine at 23-under for the championship.

Stumbling with a double-bogey at the 13th, Biwer then took bogey at the 16th to fall into a share of the lead with Bryan Lee late in the round.

Biwer recaptured the lead by converting his birdie chance from 15 feet at the 17th and closed out the championship by dropping his long birdie chance on the final hole to move inside the top-10 in the points race with two events left in the regular season.

“It was funny, with all the doubles that I've made, it almost feels like it kind of brought me back to reality and calmed me down because it was like, it's not over,” he said. “Hopefully celebrate a little bit with my family and move on to the next one now. Enjoy this for the little bit that I have, but we have a few more tournaments left in the season.

Biwer, from San Diego, Calif., led the field by carding 34 birdies during the week to offset his struggles on the course this week.

“I think you have to have an understanding of when to be aggressive, when to not be aggressive,” Biwer said. “I think some of those numbers I made this week were definitely a result of being maybe a little too aggressive or not thinking through things well enough.

“But I felt like I was aggressive when I needed to be or when I was able to be, which I think is why I made as many birdies as I did. The putter was really good too, but I feel like it definitely paid off to be aware of those different holes, different hole locations, whatever it might be to be able to take advantage of certain pins or not.”

Former University of Minnesota golfer Ben Warian led all local players this week, carding a 2-under 68 to finish in a share of sixth for his third top-10 of the season.
“It was a great week. Obviously, wish it would have finished a little differently today, but I'm really proud of the fight today,” Warian said Sunday. “Just didn't quite have it off the tee, unfortunately. Hit way too many bad drives to really have a chance at making a run. But overall, a very positive week and obviously all the fan support and everybody here is just, yeah, it's really overwhelming almost.”

Warian entered Sunday’s final round in a share of third place, four shots back of the lead and would jump into contention with a flurry to close out his front nine in 18-under for the championship.

But a bogey at the 12th followed by a double at the 14th proved costly for the 24-year-old Warian, who birdied two of his final four holes to place sixth at 17-under 263.

“Things have been trending in a really good direction for come up on a year now,” he said. “I've been working on some really good things with my coach, Brent Snyder, and the mind's getting a lot better. Have to continue to sharpen up a couple things swing-wise, and we'll be in really good shape, hopefully for a late-season push.”

Gunner Broin, from Shorewood, Minn., provided some final-round heroics Sunday, carding an ace at the 108-yard 18th hole with a sand wedge. Broin posted a 68 on the final day to place 26th, while Andrew Israelson, a native of Staples, Minn., finished 29th after a 1-over 71 Sunday.

The PGA Tour Americas heads west Sept. 10-13 for the Digital Commerce Group Open at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria, British Columbia.