SANDY — Golfer Andrew Morse has never been where he was Sunday.
As he sat in the winner's chair, he summed up his life as a professional golfer, which has now taken a turn from nowhere to somewhere.
"Basically my career has always been one stroke short," said the 41-year-old Boston native.
With his first ever Buy.com Tour win at the Utah Classic, Morse now owns more than a trophy and $72,000. He owns his first real chance in years to earn his PGA card.
He finished two strokes ahead of the pack and moved from 59th on the money list to the top 20. The top 15 money winners automatically get their PGA cards next season. He was 19 under par for the tournament.
Second place had been the best Morse ever finished on the Buy.com Tour. From 1990-93, he was the gracious runner-up every time. For many years, he didn't even play this tour. Instead he opted for regional tournaments and the Hooters Tour, which plays mainly in the South.
His scores at the qualifying schools for this tour were so low that he had to spend several months working his way up. He finally found a place on the tour at the beginning of June. He didn't make the cut in his first two tournaments.
Then something changed. Maybe his luck; definitely his putting. Now Morse leads the tour with nine consecutive cuts.
"I've been paying my dues," he said. No. 59 might sound far from contention to some, but to this man it was just a couple of good tournaments away. After all, he's been farther. The last time he played in Utah was when the tournament was in Provo, and he didn't even make the cut.
It was his "phenomenal putting" that won the championship at Willow Creek Country Club. Ironically, it was putting that lost him one of the tournaments earlier in his career.
It was 1991 at the Quicksilver Open in Midway, Pa. He four-putted a hole on the front nine from about 6 feet away. He lost by two strokes.
Not this weekend. After playing a near-perfect second round where he never bogied, he struggled some in the third round with bogeys on two of the first four holes. The tournament was called for the night.
He hoped to leave his problems in the dark.
As Sunday dawned, he had 32 holes to play and a two-stroke lead. He golfed with Bo Van Pelt, who tied him several times during the day but never passed him. John Riegger was one group ahead and ended up coming in second, one stroke ahead of Van Pelt.
Morse said he was acutely aware of his competition throughout the tournament.
"It became very exciting," he said. "Even though I was very tired, I just stuck with my routine. I hung in there and came out on top."
He bogied twice in the final round but had six birdies, including the last two holes. He said he learned while practicing earlier this week that Willow Creek's bent greens are best judged by the scenery. He used the mountains and the valley's location to his ball to decide how to hit it.
Van Pelt bogeyed the last hole, hitting into a tree on the east side of the fairway, then shooting for the pin on the right side of the green and hitting a small pond instead. He was penalized a shot but hit the flag as he chipped it onto the green and made a four-foot putt. It kept him from having to share third place and the prize money.
Morse played the 18th hole perfectly, earning a birdie, even though he knew he had a two-shot lead.
"I had three putts to win it, and I two-putted," he smiled. "Just a lot of good things happened to me, mostly putting. It's fantastic to win out here."
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