A ski trip to Utah in January, a morning visit across the mountains to Midway and a friendly afternoon wind turned out to be the three keys to Graham Marsh's victory at the Franklin Quest Championship Sunday at Park Meadows Golf Club.
The 52-year-old Australian shot a final-day 67 to break away from a tightly-bunched pack and defeat Kermit Zarley by two shots, Jack Kiefer by three and Brian Barnes and Vincente Fernandez by four. Marsh finished at 14-under-par 202 and collected $120,000 for his second victory of the year.First-day leader Gary Player led briefly Sunday, but ended in a tie for sixth at 207, while defending champion Tony Jacklin and all-time senior money winner Lee Trevino came in at 208. Local favorite Bruce Summerhays endured final-round troubles and shot a 78 to finish clear back at 217 after starting the day just five shots off the pace.
Marsh was making his first-ever appearance at the tournament after skipping his first two chances as a senior to play at Park Meadows. He said decided to play here when he was skiing at Park City seven months ago and longtime tournament official Dave Hanna suggested Graham come back and play in the tournament.
"It was hard to say I wasn't coming back," said Marsh. "It was a pretty good decision."
After an opening-round 70, Marsh bolted into contention with a 65 Saturday, leaving him one shot behind John Jacobs. Despite his good score, Marsh wasn't happy with his sand wedge, so he and his caddy, Mike Munson, looked for a place to make some adjustments with it. They finally ended up at The Homestead in Midway where they increased the loft of his wedge from 54 to 56 degrees.
The extra two degrees paid off.
On the front nine alone, Marsh used his wedge five times to get up and down from off the green, twice for birdies.
"The wedge did the trick today," he said. "If I don't get up and down on the front nine I could have had a 38 or 39."
Instead he had a 2-under 34 and was tied for the lead when he made the turn, although there were 25 players within five shots.
On the back nine, a south wind kicked up and blew harder than it had all week. That just made Marsh smile inside since he's known as one of the best "wind players" on the Senior Tour.
"(The wind) takes many of the low scores out and brings everybody back to the field," said Marsh. "I adopt the philosophy that the wind is my friend. I never get scared of the wind."
While a few players started dropping back, Marsh kept on going lower, along with Zarley. Playing a group apart in the final two threesomes of the day, they were tied at 11-under after 13 holes.
At the par-5 14th, Zarley birdied from 3 feet, only to have Marsh birdie right behind him. Then at the 363-yard 15th hole, after Zarley saved par from 5 feet, Marsh drained an 8-foot birdie putt to take the lead at 12-under.
The turning point came at No. 17, the most birdieable hole on the course during the three-day tournament.
Zarley hit his 5-wood into a greenside bunker ("I should have hit a 3-wood," he said), couldn't get up and down for birdie and stayed at 12-under. But Marsh was just short in two, chipped within five feet and sank the birdie to take a two-shot lead with one to play.
"That was a big putt at 17 - it's nice to know you can make (bogey) at the final hole and still win," he said. Instead he two-putted from 35 feet to secure the two-shot victory.
Zarley lamented his inability to make a birdie at 17, but he also knew he needed to make a few more putts on the other holes. "You need to make a lot of putts in order to win," he said.
Kiefer had his fourth consecutive strong finish at Park Meadows with a birdie-birdie finish to end up at 11-under after being stuck on 9-under most of the day. On the final hole he rolled in a downhill 25-footer to thrill the large gallery.
Kiefer has now finished fourth, third, eighth and third in his four appearances at Park Meadows. He's earned over $160,000 without ever winning the event.
Long-driving John Jacobs began the day in front at 10-under, but he bogeyed the first hole to fall out of the lead. He struggled with his short game all day, most notably at the par-4 11th where his wedge shot from less than 100 yards away fell short into the bunker, from where he took two shots to get out. The double-bogey put him five behind and he eventually finished eight back in a tie for 16th.
Player bounced back from Saturday's 74 with birdies at 2, 4, 6 and 8 (who do we appreciate) to move atop the leaderboard at 10-under-par. However he bogeyed No. 9 and No. 13 to fall out of contention.
Trevino, making his first visit to Utah in six years, pulled within two of the lead by birdieing No. 9. But he bogeyed No. 10 and then after making birdie at 14, followed with a bogey at 15, which ended his chances.
Summerhays was hoping to make a run like he did last year when he tied for second, but a ball in the water at the par-3 No. 5 led to a triple bogey. It's a problem Summerhays had all year, shooting himself out of contention on the final day.
Among other Utah golfers, Bob Betley, shot a 72 for a 213 total, while Lanny Nielsen tied for last at 237 after shooting an 80.
Arnold Palmer, who thrilled his fans with a 67 on Saturday, finished the tournament with a 75 for a 219 total.
Franklin Quest officials are already excited about next year's event since it will get better dates (July 25-27) and a bigger purse (probably $1 million) with coverage on ESPN-TV.