JAKE MCBRIDE MAKES THE 100TH OHIO OPEN THE FIRST VICTORY OF HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER
He contended with multiple weather-related and frustrating suspensions that can derail a man’s momentum faster than a double-bogey.
He bested a talented and deep field — the largest in the century-old event — and dissolved the enigma of never having won as a professional.
He dealt with changing course conditions that can alter a game plan from one lie to the next.
He stared down the make-or-break challenge of a sudden-death playoff and put together two pressure-packed, back-to-back strokes when he needed them most.
He kept his composure throughout, relying on a newly-found patience, and rebounded from two late-in-the-game misses that could have led to disappointment.
And, in the end, it could be said that he overcame himself. Or, maybe the old self.
Uniontown’s Jake McBride rolled in a 15-foot putt for birdie on the first playoff hole to win the rain-plagued 100th Ohio Open Championship at Westfield Country Club on Thursday.
He defeated two-time champion Justin Lower after both had tied for the lead at the end of regulation play at 11-under 129 in the Open’s return to Westfield for the first time since 2016.
The tournament was shortened to 36 holes from its customary 54 because rain storms, sporadically accompanied by high winds and lightning, took up residence over Westfield’s magnificent new layout and hung around like a groupie at a rock concert.
Lower, a former NAIA national champion for Malone University, was forced to wait all day before getting to play as he had completed his 36 holes on Wednesday before play was suspended. The Open champion in 2012 and 2015, shot rounds of 65-64 with his 6-under 64 being his personal best in three Open appearances.
McBride, 26, went 62-67 with his opening 8-under 62 being the second-lowest round played during any Open held at Westfield.
McBride earned $10,000 for his first professional victory while Lower, 32, won $6,000 and will return to the Korn Ferry Tour.
Kent State sophomore Cade Breitenstine (69-64), former Golden Flash Nick Montes (66-67) and Wright State grad Bryce Haney (68-65) shared third place, four shots behind the medalists.
Breitenstine, who won the prestigious Bob Kepler Invitational at Ohio State during the college season, closed with a 6-under 64, the lowest score of the second round.
McBride, a 2017 North Carolina State graduate, credited his victory to a newly-adopted mindset, which he shared with his father/caddie, Tom, the head basketball coach at Uniontown Lake High.
“I told my dad before the tournament began that I was going to play with a different approach,” he said. “I didn’t care if I played great and didn’t care if I didn’t win. I just wanted to stay calm, stay in my routine and process. I wanted to play relaxed. Patience was the key, something I might not have had before.”
The new approach worked and ended a trying 18 months for McBride.
“It’s been a rough year-and-a-half,” he said. “It’s been tough for everyone. It’s been a roller-coaster, tough, emotional year-and-a-half. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Am I good enough? Should I get a job? I had a sponsor and Covid took that away. So, to get my first professional win here and play the way I did validates what I am doing.”
One or two shots rarely make or break a tournament but there certainly are shots that go a long way in determining success or failure.
McBride can point to four shots coming down the stretch that played a huge part in the 100th Ohio Open.
The first came with McBride tied with Lower at 11-under when his tee shot on the South’s 186-yard fifth hole – McBride’s 14th of the final round – found the water to the left of the green. He took a drop then hit a delicate chip to about 12 inches and made the putt for bogey.
“That was a big up-and-down,” he said. “If I didn’t get it close maybe it’s a double. That would have killed me.”
Now behind by a shot McBride split the fairway on the 526-yard sixth and had 204 yards to the pin. His 5-iron rolled to a stop 10 feet below the hole and he cashed in for eagle and the lead.
On the par-5 eighth he was 255 yards out when thunder rolled and the siren sounded stopping play for what seemed like the 50th time this week.
When he returned his approach landed in the thick rough just off the left side. Facing another delicate shot – this time downhill – he chipped four feet past the hole then made the putt for birdie.
McBride had a chance to win the championship in regulation but missed about a 4-foot putt for par on the final hole to fall back into a tie with Lower.
“I thought I hit a good putt but it missed on the right side,” he said. “I feel like I hit a pretty good putt and I looked up and it was right of where I thought it would be.”
He retired to the locker room and gathered his thoughts.
“I was disappointed at first but I kind of took a few deep breaths and then I was kind of good to go.”
The playoff took place on the South’s 447-yard ninth hole. Both were in prime position off the tee, Lower along the right and McBride on the left, equidistant from the sloping green. Lower’s second shot flew over the flag and spun back to about 20 feet below the hole. He missed his uphill birdie attempt and tapped in for par.
McBride’s 9-iron from 144 yards came to a stop pin-high to the left. He surveyed the putt from every angle and rolled it dead-center.
“It was pretty flat, a left-to-right slider,” said McBride, who had bogeyed the hole at the end of regulation to fall into the tie with Lower.
When it was over McBride dutifully thanked his mother, Melissa, and girlfriend, Ashley, who walked with him throughout the tournament. He also thanked his dad/caddie for his guidance and support, saying, “This is the best we have ever clicked.”
He also graciously thanked everyone he could think of, from the Northern Ohio PGA, to the Westfield Country Club and its marvelous grounds crew, to his fellow competitors.
But, it might have been his newly-found demeanor that deserved the greatest thanks of all.
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio PGA
2021 Ohio Open Championship
Westfield Country Club, Westfield Center, OH
Tues, June 29 – Thurs, July 1, 2021
Professional Division
1 Jake McBride 62-67–129 -11 $10,000.00
2 Justin Lower 65-64–129 -11 $6,000.00
3 Nick Montes 66-67–133 -7 $4,000.00
4 Cameron Willis 66-68–134 -6 $3,000.00
5 Austin Schoonmaker 66-69–135 -5 $2,500.00
T6 Jake Daly 65-71–136 -4 $1,875.00
T6 Jeff Olson 70-66–136 -4 $1,875.00
T8 TT Crouch 67-70–137 -3 $1,375.00
T8 Charles Phillips 69-68–137 -3 $1,375.00
T10 Jake Appleby 69-69–138 -2 $817.86
T10 Stephen Gangluff 68-70–138 -2 $817.86
T10 Alex Weiss 69-69–138 -2 $817.86
T10 Sean McGuire 69-69–138 -2 $817.86
T10 Avery Schneider 73-65–138 -2 $817.86
T10 Chase Wilson 70-68–138 -2 $817.86
T10 Colin Biles 69-69–138 -2 $817.86
T17 Kevin Hall 68-71–139 -1 $637.50
T17 Kyle Kellogg 70-69–139 -1 $637.50
T17 Alex Andrews 67-72–139 -1 $637.50
T17 Joe Puch 70-69–139 -1 $637.50
T21 Joe Moore 70-70–140 E $512.50
T21 Jacob English 68-72–140 E $512.50
T21 Logan Lagodich 74-66–140 E $512.50
T21 Gary Rusnak 72-68–140 E $512.50
T21 Will Grimmer 68-72–140 E $512.50
T21 Darin de Lelys 68-72–140 E $512.50
T27 Patrick Luth 67-74–141 +1 $400.00
T27 David Tepe 69-72–141 +1 $400.00
T27 Richard Denny 67-74–141 +1 $400.00
T30 Timothy Ailes 71-71–142 +2 $350.00
T30 Doug Wade 73-69–142 +2 $350.00
T30 Mark Sierak 70-72–142 +2 $350.00
T30 Jaysen Hansen 73-69–142 +2 $350.00
T34 Tom Walters 73-70–143 +3
T34 Joe Meglen 71-72–143 +3
T34 Nathan Tarter 75-68–143 +3
T34 Chris Capriolo 67-76–143 +3
T34 Jim Karr 71-72–143 +3
T34 Harold Wallace 68-75–143 +3
T34 John Powers 69-74–143 +3
T41 Steve Parker 73-71–144 +4
T41 Randy Dietz 74-70–144 +4
T41 Mike Auterson 70-74–144 +4
T41 Brayden Baldridge 70-74–144 +4
T41 Mark Scott Jr. 72-72–144 +4
T41 John Vogelpohl 72-72–144 +4
T41 Jacob Tinsley 75-69–144 +4
T48 Paul Wackerly 72-73–145 +5
T48 Trevor Bright 73-72–145 +5
T48 Tyler McHugh 70-75–145 +5
T48 Jordan Paolini 71-74–145 +5
T48 Ryan Troyer 69-76–145 +5
T48 Julian Pina 73-72–145 +5
T48 Tyler Light 75-70–145 +5
T48 David Wetterich 74-71–145 +5
T56 Drew Pierson 71-75–146 +6
T56 Cory Kumpf 73-73–146 +6
T56 Mitchell Camp 73-73–146 +6
T56 Derek Smith 73-73–146 +6
T60 Michael Balcar 75-72–147 +7
T60 Michael Miller 76-71–147 +7
T60 Willie Yacknow 74-73–147 +7
T60 Dylan Dunn (a) 78-69–147 +7
64 Patrick Milkovich 75-73–148 +8
T65 JD Fletcher 70-79–149 +9
T65 Mark Evans 73-76–149 +9
T65 Jason Nussbaum 80-69–149 +9
T65 John Connelly 76-73–149 +9
T65 David Morgan 72-77–149 +9
T70 Tony Adcock 77-73–150 +10
T70 Kevin Sullivan 75-75–150 +10
T70 Cameron Starr 73-77–150 +10
T70 Anthony Pozderac 78-72–150 +10
T70 Larry King 71-79–150 +10
T70 Jared Toom 80-0–80 +10
T76 Gary Robison 78-73–151 +11
T76 Rob Smyser 75-76–151 +11
T76 Ben Smith 78-73–151 +11
T76 Austin Sipe 76-75–151 +11
80 Nick Paez 76-76–152 +12
T81 Alan Keshock 78-75–153 +13
T81 Adam Lewicki 79-74–153 +13
T81 Austin Rohrer 79-74–153 +13
84 Jay Schiffbauer 78-76–154 +14
85 David Reiter Jr 79-76–155 +15
86 Brian Owens 82-74–156 +16
87 Daniel Terry 79-79–158 +18
88 Jake Kruegel 78-81–159 +19
89 Justin Long 78-83–161 +21
90 Matt Rura 82-81–163 +23
91 Gregg Cooper 81-83–164 +24
92 Bill Wentz 84-88–172 +32
Amateur Division
T1 Cade Breitenstine (a) 69-64–133 -7 $725.00
T1 Bryce Haney (a) 68-65–133 -7 $725.00
T3 Zach Burton (a) 67-69–136 -4 $525.00
T3 Topher Reed (a) 67-69–136 -4 $525.00
T3 Conor Mead (a) 68-68–136 -4 $525.00
6 Andrew Bailey (a) 70-67–137 -3 $450.00
T7 Brett Montgomery (a) 71-67–138 -2 $412.50
T7 Tom North (a) 68-70–138 -2 $412.50
9 Cole Christman (a) 69-70–139 -1 $375.00
T10 Jack Hanus (a) 70-70–140 E $300.00
T10 Jack Vojtko (a) 68-72–140 E $300.00
T10 Max Watson (a) 73-67–140 E $300.00
T10 Tyler Goecke (a) 73-67–140 E $300.00
T10 Nathan Arnold (a) 72-68–140 E $300.00
T15 Josh Clay (a) 70-71–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Connor Gdovin (a) 71-70–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Dylan Van Fossen (a) 70-71–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Jules Blakely (a) 73-68–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Chris Okeson (a) 70-71–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Zachary Robbins (a) 68-73–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Aaron Apticar (a) 68-73–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Connor Curry (a) 72-69–141 +1 $211.11
T15 Jack Kozlowski (a) 70-71–141 +1 $211.11
T24 Tyler Ankrom (a) 70-72–142 +2 $165.00
T24 Lucas Wells (a) 74-68–142 +2 $165.00
T24 Ben Herman (a) 71-71–142 +2 $165.00
T24 Griffin Mitchell (a) 72-70–142 +2 $165.00
T24 Davis Root (a) 73-69–142 +2 $165.00
T29 Justin Atkinson (a) 70-73–143 +3
T29 Ethan Snyder (a) 72-71–143 +3
T29 Trent Tipton (a) 73-70–143 +3
T29 Will Birkholz (a) 72-71–143 +3
T29 Logan Bratsch (a) 73-70–143 +3
T29 Ryan Norkin (a) 74-69–143 +3
T29 Alexander Anderson (a) 70-73–143 +3
T29 Matthew Cammeyer (a) 73-70–143 +3
T29 Andrew Grayson (a) 69-74–143 +3
T29 Zach Mandry (a) 72-71–143 +3
T29 Logan Hooper (a) 71-72–143 +3
T40 Darin Hudak (a) 72-72–144 +4
T40 Dan Belden (a) 71-73–144 +4
T40 Daniel Mosher (a) 74-70–144 +4
T40 Austin Schreiber (a) 73-71–144 +4
T40 Ben Hogan (a) 72-72–144 +4
T40 JonErik Alford (a) 72-72–144 +4
T40 Cameron Frazier (a) 70-74–144 +4
T47 Benjamin Cors (a) 74-71–145 +5
T47 Griffin Hrabak (a) 72-73–145 +5
T47 Aaron Crewse (a) 71-74–145 +5
T47 Bradley Chill Jr. (a) 75-70–145 +5
T47 Roni Shin (a) 76-69–145 +5
T47 Conner Stevens (a) 70-75–145 +5
T47 Caleb Davern (a) 72-73–145 +5
T47 Kyle Buzaki (a) 76-69–145 +5
T47 Dean Austalosh (a) 72-73–145 +5
T47 Kent Monas (a) 72-73–145 +5
T47 Zak Supelak (a) 70-75–145 +5
T58 Matthew Wininger (a) 69-77–146 +6
T58 Andrew Wyss (a) 72-74–146 +6
T58 Jonathan Green (a) 75-71–146 +6
T58 Palmer Yenrick (a) 67-79–146 +6
T58 Scott Brown (a) 78-68–146 +6
T58 Bob Henighan (a) 75-71–146 +6
T58 Corbin Stykemain (a) 72-74–146 +6
T65 Carson Bellish (a) 72-75–147 +7
T65 Jack Herceg (a) 74-73–147 +7
T65 Mike Bauman (a) 72-75–147 +7
T65 Shaun Kloetzer (a) 75-72–147 +7
T65 Gunnar McCollins (a) 77-70–147 +7
T65 Jeffrey Blechschmidt (a) 72-75–147 +7
T65 David Laib (a) 74-73–147 +7
T65 Blake Prince (a) 71-76–147 +7
T73 Nick Mollica (a) 75-74–149 +9
T73 Garrett Thesing (a) 75-74–149 +9
T73 Carter Mishler (a) 71-78–149 +9
T73 Benjamin Dearth (a) 77-72–149 +9
T77 Evan Yakubov (a) 75-75–150 +10
T77 Brandon Bodis (a) 76-74–150 +10
T77 Alec Adcock (a) 75-75–150 +10
T77 Colin Frimel (a) 75-75–150 +10
T77 Nolan King (a) 75-75–150 +10
T77 Matt Nimsuwan (a) 76-74–150 +10
T77 Jake Rodgers (a) 75-75–150 +10
T77 Michael Sweany (a) 77-73–150 +10
T77 Evan DiSanto (a) 73-77–150 +10
T86 Colton Vincelette (a) 74-77–151 +11
T86 John Thompson (a) 75-76–151 +11
T86 Ken Chuparkoff II (a) 73-78–151 +11
T86 Nicklaus Pidgeon (a) 75-76–151 +11
T86 Alex Micale (a) 74-77–151 +11
T86 Evan MacLean (a) 76-75–151 +11
T86 Mason Frazier (a) 75-76–151 +11
93 Blake Shienkaruk (a) 74-78–152 +12
T94 Brandon Jatich (a) 73-80–153 +13
T94 Maurice Jacobs (a) 76-77–153 +13
T94 Kyle Geist (a) 78-75–153 +13
T94 Nick Lambos (a) 76-77–153 +13
T94 Tommy Witschey (a) 79-74–153 +13
T94 Dylan Erks (a) 78-75–153 +13
T94 Jake Lowis (a) 77-76–153 +13
T101 Dylan Kaufman (a) 80-74–154 +14
T101 Kyle Mitchell (a) 81-73–154 +14
T103 Jamison Ellis (a) 76-79–155 +15
T103 Nolan Druehl (a) 77-78–155 +15
T103 Joshua Prok (a) 75-80–155 +15
T103 Brandon Beck (a) 79-76–155 +15
T103 Joshua Wright (a) 76-79–155 +15
T103 Mckenzie Cushman (a) 79-76–155 +15
T109 Ken Kinkopf (a) 72-84–156 +16
T109 Tyler Overberg (a) 77-79–156 +16
T111 Aaron Belcher (a) 80-77–157 +17
T111 Alex Tambellini (a) 79-78–157 +17
T111 Jaydan Morgan (a) 80-77–157 +17
T111 Dylan Ledford (a) 76-81–157 +17
T115 Liam Ottaway (a) 79-79–158 +18
T115 Carter Hahn (a) 81-77–158 +18
T115 Peyton Houston (a) 78-80–158 +18
T115 Tommy Vrablic (a) 81-77–158 +18
T115 Logan Menning (a) 77-81–158 +18
T115 Jonathon Knapp (a) 78-80–158 +18
T115 Zachary Parker (a) 78-80–158 +18
122 Jack Garswood (a) 77-82–159 +19
T123 Brady Gazarek (a) 75-85–160 +20
T123 Roy Fankhauser (a) 80-80–160 +20
T123 Michael Lee (a) 77-83–160 +20
T126 Nicolas Fartelly (a) 76-85–161 +21
T126 Xander Moran (a) 78-83–161 +21
T128 Brennan Komos (a) 79-83–162 +22
T128 Matthew Goldsberry (a) 84-78–162 +22
T128 Justin Tracy (a) 80-82–162 +22
131 Drake Van Nostran (a) 82-81–163 +23
132 Bodie Hillwig (a) 82-82–164 +24
133 Michael Van Etten (a) 86-79–165 +25
T134 Emilio Noguez (a) 86-80–166 +26
T134 Kota Ando (a) 82-84–166 +26
T134 Luke Schreck (a) 82-84–166 +26
T134 Bella Harris (a) 81-85–166 +26
138 Jaydon Thammachack (a) 86-82–168 +28
139 Austin Gerwig (a) 88-82–170 +30
140 Michael Hudec (a) 93-82–175 +35
141 Alex Pond (a) 90-90–180 +40
142 David Banks (a) 95-86–181 +41
