Chris Williams, of Moscow, Idaho, held off
the hard-charging Zac Blair, of Ogden, Utah,
to win the Sahalee Players Championship at
Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.
Williams, a 2011 U.S. Open qualifier, posted a
72-hole total of 1-under par 287 to beat Blair
by a shot.
Williams started the final round with a one-
shot lead and quickly increased it with a birdie
on his first hole of the day. He would make
just one more birdie all day to finish with a
1-over-par 73 and the victory. The University
of Washington sophomore began the summer
with the goal of making the Walker Cup team,
and coupled with his U.S. Open appearance,
he has likely earned consideration from the
BYU sophomore Blair made a run with four
birdies on the front nine to get within two shots
of the lead but his hope of victory ended at 16
where he made his only bogey of the round. He
would make birdie on the finishing hole for an
impressive 4-under par round of 68, bringing
his 72 hole total to even-par 288, good enough
for runner-up honors with Chen-Tsung Pan of
Sammamish, Wash.
Pan’s round got off to a shaky start after a
bogey at the first and double-bogey at the sec-
ond. While he would go 3-under par from there,
it proved to be too large a gap to overcome.
World Team Amateur participant Minghao
Wang, of Alpharetta, Ga., made a move on the
back nine, making birdies on holes 11 and 12 to
get one shot off the lead at 1-under par heading
into the 16th hole. But his aggressive approach
shot ended up lost in the trees along with his
title hopes as he would make a triple-bogey.
Beau Hossler Jr., of Mission Viejo, Calif., set
the early pace with an opening-round, 4-under-
par 68. Williams emerged from the grueling
36 hole second day with the 54 hole lead after
rounds of 73 and 71, giving him a one-shot lead
over 2010 runner up Andrew Putnam. Hossler
and Putnam would finish T4 at 1-over 289.
Scoring was held in check by the very firm
and fast conditions on the course that has
hosted the PGA Championship and the U.S.
Senior Open. The tournament is the first half
of the “Western Swing.” Next up is the PNGA
Amateur Championship this week at Tetherow
GC in Bend, Ore. Both Williams and Blair are
expected to compete.
Staff and Wire Reports
Chris Williams improved his Walker Cup
chances by winning the Sahalee Players.
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