Summerhays Wins Sahalee Players Championship

Daniel Summerhays started hot and ended hot, rolling to a final round 5-under par 67 to win the 14th Sahalee Players Championship by seven shots. The senior at Brigham Young had no challengers on Friday after firing a 3-under 33 on the front nine and a 2-under 34 on the back at the 6,875-yard Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.

The 23-year-old Summerhays, the 2007 Ping Cougar Classic champion and an All-Mountain West Conference first teamer, made this prestigious amateur event his first nationally recognized victory. Eddie Olson of Aptos, Calif., and a senior at UNLV, closed with a 3-over 75 to finish in second at 1-under 287; he and Summerhays were the only two players to finish under par for the championship.

"It's hard to beat a guy who is making every putt he looks at," Olson told reporter Steve Turcotte of the Seattle Times. "It was actually kind of fun to watch - he really had it going."

One of the players expected to be a major factor was defending champion Kyle Stanley, a Gig Harbor, Wash., native and currently the nation's No. 1-ranked amateur. But the Clemson player bogeyed the fourth and fifth holes and dropped any chance of winning after a double-bogey 7 on the 11th hole. He finished with a 77 and was alone in third.

Summerhays made five birdies and an eagle to card the lowest round of the week at Sahalee. His driving and iron play was crisp and his putting uncanny. He made four putts of at least 20 feet for birdie and a 25-footer for eagle. "After those first long putts went in, I started thinking I could make them all," Summerhays told Turcotte. "I've been close to the lead in my last few rounds, but haven't putted well. I liked it when they started going in today."

In other notes, Casey Watabu, champion of the 2006 U.S. Public Links Championship held at Gold Mountain Golf Course in Bremerton, Wash., missed his starting time because of an auto accident on a nearby highway and was disqualified.

Final Results

Daniel Summerhays, Provo, Utah - 69-72-72-67--280
Eddie Olson, Aptos, Calif. - 71-68-73-75--287
Kyle Stanley, Gig Harbor, Wash. - 70-73-70-77--290
Patrick Nagle, Pacifica, Calif. - 70-72-72-77--291
Zach Bixler, Richland, Wash. - 73-71-72-76--292
Adam Hadwin, Abbotsford, BC - 71-73-74-75--293
James Lee, La Habra, Calif. - 72-76-69-76--293
Sam Korbe, Springdale, Ark. - 75-71-77-70--293
Daniel Woltman, Beaver Dam, Wis. - 77-74-70-74--295
Jarin Todd, Woodinville, Wash. - 77-71-79-68--295
Erik Hanson, Kirkland, Wash. - 73-74-75-74--296
Joseph Bramlett, Saratoga, Calif. - 73-69-73-81--296
Dustin Pimm, Sandy, Utah - 75-74-76-72--297
John Chin, Temecula, Calif. - 76-74-75-72--297
Jordan Nasser, Anaheim Hills, Calif. - 73-75-71-78--297
Brett Kanda, La Crescenta, Calif. - 76-79-71-73--299
Kevin Chappell, Fresno, Calif. - 77-71-75-76--299
Erick Justesen, Turlock, Calif. - 70-76-76-78--300
James Allenby, Langley, BC - 74-76-73-77--300
Rob Grube, Hinsdale, Ill. - 72-75-76-77--300
Derek Sipe, Springfield, Ore. - 74-77-76-74--301
Alex Prugh, Spokane, Wash. - 74-77-76-75--302
John Wise, Issaquah, Wash. - 78-75-78-72--303
Tim McKenney, Scottsdale, Ariz. - 77-73-76-77--303
John Cassidy III, Yelm, Wash. - 72-76-80-76--304
Matthew Giles, Cronulla NSW, Australia - 76-72-80-77--305
Lucas Lee, Sao Paulo, Brazil - 77-76-79-74--306
Erik Olson, Newcastle, Wash. - 79-77-76-75--307
Chris Killmer, Bellingham, Wash. - 75-75-75-83--308
Matt Savage, Scottsdale, Ariz. - 82-73-79-74--308
Michael Jensen, Los Altos, Calif. - 72-79-77-80--308
Robbie Fillmore, Salt Lake City, Utah - 75-78-78-77--308
Troy Merrit, Eagle, Idaho - 79-73-78-78--308
Darrin Hall, Evergreen, Colo. - 74-75-73-87--309
Jason Kang, Valencia, Calif. - 77-74-79-79--309
Mark Ogren, Daphne, Ala. - 74-74-76-85--309
Chris Heintz, Brea, Calif. - 75-75-79-81--310
Derek Berg, Duvall, Wash. - 80-78-75-77--310
Paul Haley, Dallas, Texas - 79-73-78-80--310
David Merkow, Hartland, Wis. - 72-81-81-77--311
Jon McLean, Weston, Fla. - 75-73-82-81--311
Josh Anderson, Murrieta, Calif. - 76-79-77-79--311
Andrew Putnam, University Place, Wash. - 79-76-79-78--312
Chris Ward, McKinney, Texas - 81-80-72-79--312
Mitchell Gillis, Corvallis, Ore. - 83-75-75-79-312
Creighton Honeck, Austin, Texas - 79-77-77-80--313
George Gandranata, Emeryville, Calif. - 76-79-78-81--314
Jake Younan-Wise, Kingscliff, Australia - 82-75-79-79--315
Daniel Lim, Cupertino, Calif. - 81-79-80-77--317
JJ Wood, Yuma, Ariz. - 80-76-78-83--317
Taylor Coffman, San Diego, Calif. - 76-83-77-81--317
Austin Hurt, Bainbridge Island, Wash. - 78-78-84-79--319
Thomas Gocke, Sammamish, Wash. - 80-79-82-84--325
Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii - 75-72-86-DQ--DQ