The eagles and two birdies helped offset four bogeys and enabled Sowards to become the ninth player to win at least three Open titles.
View full sizeOhio Open winner Bob Sowards gives a little encouragement to his putt on the 16th green Wednesday at Quail Hollow Country Club.CONCORD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — When the eagles landed, they scattered the rest of the flock.
Teaching pro and former Tour player Bob Sowards used a pair of eagles Wednesday, including a game-clincher with five holes to play, to win the 87th annual Ohio Open, on the Devlin Course at Quail Hollow Country Club.
The eagles and two birdies helped offset four bogeys and enabled Sowards to become the ninth player to win at least three Open titles.
He had a 54-hole score of 9-under 204, capped by a 2-under 69 in the final round.
Mill Creek Park Golf Course pro Dennis Miller, who led after the first two rounds, finished second at 205 after a closing 71 and four players tied for third at 206. The win was worth $8,000 and Miller, from Canfield, received $4,000.
The most recent player to win three titles is Pepper Pike pro Rob Moss, who was in contention after the first two rounds, but fell to a tie for 11th.
"I haven't been in contention for a long time so I was really nervous out there," said Sowards, who played on the PGA Tour in 2008, the Nationwide Tour last year and now teaches at New Albany Country Club in his hometown.
"It felt good to be able to come through."
Sowards, who also won at Barrington in 2004 and Tam O'Shanter in 2002, trailed Miller by two shots heading into the final nine holes, despite an eagle on the 550-yard third.
That changed on the par-4 10th when Sowards rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt and Miller made bogey.
View full sizeDespite leading most of the tournament, Dennis Miller couldn't hang on during the final round. When Sowards stepped onto the tee of the 504-yard 14th, he was tied with former Strongsville standout and current mini-tour player Jake Scott, who was playing one group ahead. Both were at 8 under.
After a perfect tee shot, he had 223 yards to reach the green.
"The wind kept switching and I didn't know if I could get there with a 5-wood but I ended up hitting it perfect," said Sowards, who left himself with a 35-foot putt.
"I saw a line in the green like it was burned in there."
The putt was more perfect than the 5-wood, rolling into the hole with exact speed.
Sowards, whose first tournament as a professional was a Hogan Tour stop at Quail Hollow in 1991, gave a slight fist pump to celebrate his two-shot cushion at 10 under.
Although he followed with a bogey on the 15th hole, no one was able to take advantage until Miller pulled to within one with a birdie on the 17th. Sowards played the 18th in regulation, lagging a 40-foot birdie putt to within two feet.
Scott had pulled into a tie for the lead at 8 under with a birdie at the 14th hole but a bogey on the next hole cost him.
Rookie pro Trevor Bowman of Harpster shared low-round of the day with Westwood pro Todd Lancaster, both at 66. The hot finish lifted Bowman into a tie for third place, along with former Akron player Garrett Frank, defending champion Vaughn Snyder and Scott, all at 206.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: trogers@plaind.com, 216-999-5169