After holding the 54-hole lead, Canal Fulton’s Justin Lower battled the entire final round of the Chitimacha Louisiana Open on Sunday. But a birdie on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff did him in.
After stuffing it to one foot to birdie the final hole of regulation to tie Lower, Vince Covello of Atlantic Beach FL birdied the the third playoff hole to earn his first Web.com Tour title. Both players ended regulation at 19-under 265.
On the first playoff hole, Covello pulled his drive into the water. But after taking a penalty drop, he got up and down from 113 yards for par to match Lower.
“Hats off to Vince, we played the last 36 holes together and it was a lot of fun,” said Lower, who had a putt to win it at 18 in regulation and in the first two playoff holes. “It’s just golf, it’s the way it is. He played well down the stretch and that’s what you need to do. You can lead for 70 holes or however many you want, but if you’re not leading after 72 then it doesn’t matter.”
As the runner-up, Lower posted his best career finish on the Web.com Tour, topping his third-place finish at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open last year. Lower came agonizingly close to earning his PGA TOUR card at the 2018 Web.com Tour Finals, finishing 26th on the money list.
