Pepper Pike's Rob Moss won the Northern Ohio PGA section championship for the first time in his career.
Pepper Pike pro Rob Moss got his round off to a fast start with an eagle on the par-4 second hole at Lakewood Country Club Wednesday.WESTLAKE, Ohio -- When Rob Moss stepped onto the first tee at Lakewood Country Club for the final round of the Northern Ohio PGA's Professional Championship on Wednesday, he had no idea of what he would have to shoot in order to catch second-round leader Gary Trivisonno.
He just knew he had to be aggressive.
"With the way Gary was playing, I think we all felt the need to be aggressive because we had to be," said Pepper Pike Club pro Moss, who trailed Trivisonno by four shots heading into the final round. "Really, I just wanted to go out and shoot the lowest score I possibly could."
Moss, a three-time Ohio Open champion, dialed in the right amount of aggressiveness to win the section championship for the first time in his career with a final-round 1-under 70 for a 54-hole total of 4-under 209 under perfect conditions.
The one-stroke victory was worth $2,700 and assured Moss a spot in the 2011 PGA Professional National Championship next June at the Hershey (Pa.) Country Club. Playing in that event could lead to an appearance in the PGA Championship, which Moss played this year at Whistling Straits. The other top seven finishers at Lakewood will join Moss.
Trivisonno, seeking to become the first NOPGA player to win the Senior Pro Championship and the Pro Championship in the same season, shot a final-round 75 and was one of four players tied for second, one shot behind Moss.
That group included Mill Creek Park's Denny Miller, whose run at the title was derailed by a second-round 75, but who finished in a flurry with the day's best score of 66 and joined Trivisonno, Mitch Flemming (GolfTec) and Jaysen Hansen of the Inverness Club in Toledo at 210.
Moss, who said his game has improved dramatically since early May, got his round off to a great start with an eagle on the 379-yard, par-4 second hole. He canned his second shot from the right rough at 98 yards and later added a birdie on the 590-yard ninth when a gap wedge from 90 yards stopped six feet from the hole.
That made up for a double-bogey six in the 406-yard seventh. After that it was nine straight pars, which enabled him to emerge from a pack of eight players who were within one shot of the lead.
Quartet earn Mid-Am berth: Canton’s Nick Lambos earned the final qualifying spot for the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship on Wednesday when he made par on the first playoff hole in the qualifying tournament at Shale Creek in Medina.
Canfield’s Jim Perry and Todd Humrichouser, of Westerville, shared medalist honors with rounds of 2-under 69. Mike Hyland, of Ottawa Hills, was third and Lambos was fourth. They all qualify for the 30th U.S. Mid-Am national championship in Bridgehampton, N.Y., Sept. 25-30.