PGA PNC winner captures the Maryland Open
BELAIR, MD. – After Dave Hutsell shot a 7-under-par 65 to come from behind and win the Maryland Open on Wednesday, he was approached by former PGA Tour pro Jim Estes.
“How can I get some of that?” asked Estes, rubbing Hutsell on the chest and shoulders. “Let me just touch it.”
If only it was that easy to acquire the magic Hutsell, 40, has had this summer.
Two weeks ago in Hershey, he rallied to win his first PGA Professional National Championship. Wednesday at Maryland Golf & Country Club, Hutsell played four straight holes in 6-under-par to take command of a tournament he has never won.
“I’ve played in this tournament probably since 1998, or so,” Hutsell said. “I’ve had some top fives, but to finally get it done is really special.”
Hutsell (70-72-65 – 207), a teaching pro at Elkridge, needed his best stuff to subdue a similarly brilliant charge from University of Maryland sophomore Sean Bosdosh (69-73-66 – 208), who made seven birdies in a span of eight holes on Wednesday. Bosdosh went to the 54th tee tied for the lead, but pushed his drive into the trees and missed a 15-foot putt for par which would have forced a playoff.
Hutsell, a former baseball player at Towson and UMBC, won $8,100.
Both players opened the day two shots behind veteran teaching pros Estes (68-72-72 – 212), who finished third, and John O’Leary (67-73-73 – 213), who tied for fourth. But it quickly became a two-player tournament when both went low on the front nine.
Hutsell, who one-putted the first six greens, began his charge with a seven-foot birdie putt at No. 3. Then he made back-to-back eagles. On No. 4, a 546-yard par 5, Hutsell hit a 4-iron from 217 yards out to within eight feet. On No. 5, a par 4 shortened Wednesday to 258 yards, Hutsell blistered a 3-wood to within 10 feet and made the putt. On No. 6 Hutsell hit a pitching wedge to within 12 feet and made the birdie putt.
Meanwhile, Bosdosh, a member at Holly Hills who was playing one group behind Hutsell, was knocking down pins and draining putts. Starting at No. 4, Bosdosh made seven birdies in eight holes. None of the putts came from beyond 10 feet.
“I was hitting my irons well, putting myself in position to make birides,” said Bosdosh, the youngest Maryland Amateur champion in history when he won the 2010 title at Congressional Gold.
Bosdosh continued to put heat on Hutsell as he made a 10-footer for birdie at No. 14, But on the next three holes, Bosdosh had putts that lipped out of the hole.
Hutsell had an anxious moment on No. 17, a 568-yard curling par 5. Trying to lay up, Hutsell pulled hit shot left, toward trees. The ball came to rest on pine needles, six feet short of out-of-bounds stakes.
He was left with an uphill shot from 90 yards out, under trees, and over a bunker to a tight pin placement. Hutsell hit a low shot perfectly. The shot landed on the ridge above the bunker and died on the fringe, 15 feet from the hole, from where he made par.
“Just a little knock down sand wedge,” Hutsell said. “I had a couple little twigs around the ball I was a little concerned about. I was just glad to hit it solid.”
Hutsell made the shot sound routine. But there’s no using that adjective about his life-changing summer.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” Hutsell said.
His win in the PGA PNC comes with a berth in the PGA Championship and six other PGA Tour events over the next year. With the way Hutsell is playing, he’s allowed himself to dream big, just a tad.
“If I have some decent success, I may think about Q School,” Hutsell said. “It’s just something I’m keeping in the back of my mind.”
Notes » Defending champion Denny McCarthy, the youngest Maryland Open winner, struggled with his putting and missed the cut by a stroke, shooting 75-77 – 152. Later this month, the University of Virginia-bound McCarthy plays in the prestigious Porter Cup in Niagara Falls.
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