A final-round 71 was good enough to crown the youngest winner of the oldest tournament in Ohio.
Michael Bernard drives off the 10th tee in Friday's final round of the Ohio Amateur Championship at Kirtland Country Club in Willoughby. Bernard, at 16, became the youngest player to take the title.WILLOUGHBY, Ohio -- Michael Bernard added a new chapter to the 104-year history of the Ohio Amateur Championship on Friday.
Playing near-flawless golf, the 16-year-old from the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights put the finishing touch on a superlative four-day performance with a final-round even-par 71 to become the youngest winner of the oldest tournament in Ohio with a score of 7-under 277.
Bernard's 72-hole total at Kirtland Country Club was five shots better than Dublin's Matt Stauch, Mansfield's Tom Ballinger and Cincinnati's Bill Williamson, the 36-hole leader.
Frank Stranahan was 19 when he won the first of his back-to-back titles in 1941.
"I just talked to my wife and she said, 'It's not every day that your kid gets to make history,'" said Doug Bernard, who followed his son on every hole over the last four days. "Now, we head to the U.S. Junior Amateur (at Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Mich.) and start all over again."
Stauch, who helped Florida Southern win the Division II national championship and Dublin Jerome back-to-back state high school titles, climbed seven spots with a 5-under 66 -- equaling the best round of the tournament -- to earn his share of second place.
Williamson, a corporate attorney who played collegiately at Akron, lost his sole hold on second place with a final-round 75.
Ballinger, a Kent State grad, chipped in for birdie from off the 18th green to shoot 73 and finish at 282.
Bernard, who will be a junior at Wayne High School, never let his lead dwindle to fewer than two shots, mostly because he saved par with a series of clutch putts. When asked how it felt to become the Ohio Am's youngest champ, he said, "It really hasn't sunk in yet."
He formulated a game plan after taking the lead during Thursday's third round and stuck to it.
"My plan on the front nine was to hit fairways and try to hit to the center of greens and make two putts," said Bernard. "And, I did exactly that for the first six holes."
He played bogey-free for six holes, saving par by making three six-foot putts. After a bogey on the seventh, he saved par with a nine-foot putt on the eighth before going birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey on holes 10 through 13. He finished with four pars and another birdie. In all he made at least seven par-saving putts, culminating with an 18-footer on the final hole.
"I didn't drive particularly well today, but I scrambled very well," he said. "I think I made two bad decisions all day."