Darron Stiles wins News Sentinel Open Presented by Pilot
Darron Stiles carded a four-under par final round of 67 to claim his fourth US PGA Web.com Tour title in the News Sentinel Open Presented by Pilot, as Scott Gardiner missed out on a second win by one shot even after posting a sensational 62 on Sunday, August
26, 2012.
Stiles, who had a one-stroke lead over Erik Flores and Patrick Sheehan, entering the final round, had to start his day three strokes behind Gardiner, D.J. Brigman and Nicholas Thompson.
The trio reached the top early in the round after posting 62, 63 and 64, respectively. The distance to the lead increased after Stiles recorded a bogey on the first hole that he played.
However, an amazing 30-footer for a birdie on the very next hole allowed him to go equal the par once again. According to him, that birdie convinced him that he still had the chance to take the title home.
"The key was on number two making a 30-footer for birdie," he said. "That got me settled back down and allowed me to just let my ball striking take over".
"I saw Scotty in at 17-under," the Florida native explained. "I knew that if I just stuck to my game plan, that if I'm in or close to the lead heading into the back nine that I had a shot at it".
Afterwards, he kept control over his game and managed to post another two birdies and an eagle to sit atop the leaderboard, entering the final four holes of the tournament.
Playing the final hole with a one-stroke lead reminded him of his first victory in this tournament – then called Knoxville Open – when he encountered the same situation.
Therefore, he did not hesitate and played aggressively, as he did throughout the day. He pulled his driver from the bag and drove the ball straight on the fairway, leading to a par putt.
"The game plan was to stay aggressive all day and don't deviate from that," the 39-year-old noted. "Today was eerily similar to Sunday 10 years ago, in that I had a one-stroke lead with one to play”.
With this victory, he has now moved to the eighth position in the Web.com Tour money list.
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