Sixteen Remain as Wetzel Sets the Pace at the MGA Players' Championship
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – A 64-man bracket was whittled to 16 in a single day Monday, as the opening rounds of match play at the 49th MGA Players'...
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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – The 49th MGA Players' Championship spent Tuesday tearing up the seed list. By the time the quarterfinals ended at Olympic Hills Golf Club, every one of the top seven seeds had been sent home — fourth-seeded Jack Wetzel among them — leaving a final four with no familiar favorite and plenty of fresh faces.
Wetzel, who had blitzed his first two opponents 8 and 7 and 6 and 5 to look every bit the man to beat, ran into No. 20 Jon Dutoit in the Round of 16 — and it was Dutoit, of Chaska Town Course, who landed the knockout, closing out one of the hottest players in the tournament 3 and 1. Dutoit kept his run going in the afternoon, dismissing Mick Herron 4 and 2 to reach the semifinals.
The day was unkind to seeds up and down the bracket. Host Olympic Hills had a contender of its own in Jason Pendleton, who advanced out of the Round of 16 and then edged Isa Khan 1 up in the quarterfinals. Khan, the No. 58 seed from YOC Minnesota, had been one of the week's best stories, knocking off No. 10 Bryce Hanstad 1 up to reach the final eight before Pendleton ended his run.
Jack Holtz, the highest seed left at No. 8, handled Matt Pfingsten 5 and 4 in the Round of 16 and moved through to the semifinals from the top of the draw. Jesse Bull (The Club at Golden Valley) rounded out the quartet, closing out No. 6 Joseph Rohlwing 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals — sending home the last man who had still been on the course when darkness fell Monday night.
That leaves four players standing, none seeded higher than eighth: Holtz, Dutoit, Pendleton and Bull. The Wednesday-morning semifinals send No. 8 Holtz against No. 20 Dutoit in one bracket and host-club hope Pendleton against Bull in the other, with the 18-hole championship match to follow in the afternoon.
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