By Jim Henry
Globe Sports Editor
JOPLIN, Mo. —
T.L. Hager laced his approach shot on the par-4 17th hole within three feet of the flagstick and tapped in for birdie.
And, he fell one shot more off the pace.
Connor McHenry holed out for an eagle on 17 to provide the exclamation point on a 5-under-par 67 Sunday afternoon to win the 58th annual Twin Hills Invitational.
McHenry, playing in his final amateur event before turning pro next month, broke par in all three rounds and finished with a 9-under-par 207 total. He owned a one-shot lead after a first-round 71, then carded a 3-under 69 in the second round but fell two strokes behind Hager, who fired a 65. Hager finished seven shots back at 214 after a final-round 76.
Tug Baker, who won the Briarbrook Invitational last month, shot 71 and climbed into third place at 221, two shots in front of Pete Schleicher and Evan Wood. Schleicher also had a final-round 71, and Wood shot 76.
Bob Fouke and Randy Hurst tied for sixth at 224 after shooting 73s, and a tie at 225 involved Danny Langerot (74), Brian Jones (74), Ashley Roberson (76) and Andy Pochik (77).
Nolan Couch matched par-72 and won the Presidents Flight with 225. Also winning flights were Chris Matheny in First Flight, 71-231; Bob McKay in Second Flight, 73-242; Barrett Satterlee in Third Flight, 83-252; and Gary Mahan in Fourth Flight, 83-264.
Jim Weaver captured the Senior Flight with 70-216, and Fred Baker won Senior Presidents with 80-257.
McHenry, from Jefferson City and the Missouri Valley Conference medalist in 2008 and 2009 when he played at Wichita State, saw his two-stroke deficit disappear when Hager made double bogey on the par-4 third hole. Hager, former Georgetown University player, hit his approach into a greenside bunker and later three-putted.
McHenry birdied the two par-3s — a 9-iron within 12 feet on No. 5 and 8-iron within eight feet on 8 — to take a two-stroke lead over Hager at the turn. Hager got one shot back with a birdie on the par-5 10th hole, and his tee shot on the par-3 11th stopped about 18 feet from the pin. But Hager four-putted for double-bogey and a three-shot deficit.
“I left (the birdie putt) short, the missed a couple of 21⁄2-footers,” Hager said. “I made a birdie on 10 to kind of get myself back in it, and then the same club that let me down on the front let me down on the back — a four-putt on 11. Sometimes it goes like that. (Saturday) they were rolling in (during a 7-under 65) and today they were touching the edges.”
Two holes later McHenry’s 151-yard 8-iron from the middle of the fairway came within two inches of going in. Then on 17, his 58-degree sand wedge from inside 100 yards did find the cup.
“I couldn’t see it go in,” McHenry said. “I didn’t know until we got up to the green.
“I hit the irons good. I didn’t hit the driver that great. I definitely hit my irons the best today (as compared to the first two rounds). I putted pretty good, too.”
Baker had four birdies — the longest a 15-footer on No. 9 — and three back-nine bogeys in his round of 34-37 and finished third here for the second time in three years.
“Everything is so close to being right on, but when it’s a miss, it’s a big miss,” Baker said. “The first day I had seven lip-outs, and I’m 4-over-par. I have the same number of putts (Saturday), today I think I had one less putt. I hit a few more greens today. The wind was calmer today though.
“I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. Honestly I’d rather hit a good putt that didn’t go in than a bad ones that do. That way you keep the confidence going if you’re rolling it where you want.”
