Whitekiller Wins Sahalee Players Championship

Trent Whitekiller of Sallisaw, Okla., won the weather-shortened 2008 Sahalee Players Championship on Thursday. Championship officials decided to cancel the final round Thursday morning after heavy rains and lightning rolled through the Sammamish, Wash., area.

Players returned to the course for the final nine holes of the third round at 12:15 p.m. after the clouds broke. Whitekiller, starting on his 12th hole, carded a birdie, a bogey, and five pars on his final seven holes en route to an impressive 71 to follow up on his second-round 67. His 54-hole total of 6-under-par 210 gave him a two-stroke victory over USC's Matthew Giles. Giles used five birdies over his final nine holes to creep up the leaderboard and take sole possession of second. Giles was the only player in the field to shoot under par in every round of the championship. One stroke back of Giles in third was UCLA's Erik Flores. Flores was consistent all week and his final-round 71 featured one birdie and 17 pars.

Whitekiller will be a junior this fall at Oklahoma State University and finished tied for seventh at the 2008 NCAA Championship. He was also the champion of the 2007 Oklahoma Amateur. This is Whitekiller's first major amateur victory of a national scale.

Final Results, Sahalee Country Club, 6,981 yards, par 72

Trent Whitekiller, Sallisaw, Okla. - 72-67-71-210
Matthew Giles, Cronulla, Australia - 70-71-71--212
Erik Flores, Grass Valley, Calif. - 70-72-71--213
David Lipsky, La Canada, Calif. - 72-73-69--214
Matt Hoffenberg, Simi Valley, Calif. - 72-71-71--214
Matt Jager, Perth, Australia - 77-70-67--214
Graham Hill, Forest, ON - 73-69-73--215
Andrew Landry, Groves, Texas - 68-73-75--216
Nick Taylor, Abbotsford, BC - 69-75-72--216
Will Griffin, San Antonio, Texas - 73-74-70--217
Derek Berg, Duvall, Wash. - 74-71-73--218
Eddie Olson, Aptos, Calif. - 71-76-71--218
Derek Ernst, Clovis, Calif. - 74-74-71--219
Jarin Todd, Woodinville, Wash. - 72-74-73--219
Chris Ward, McKinney, Texas - 76-74-71--221
Craig Doell, Victoria, BC - 72-75-74--221
Daniel Woltman, Beaver Dam, Wis. - 71-78-72--221
James Allenby, Langley, BC - 77-70-74--221
Jin Jeong, Rowville, Australia - 73-75-73--221
Tim Mickelson, San Diego, Calif. - 78-72-71--221
Andrew Putnam, University Place, Wash. - 72-75-75--222
Chandler Cocco, Bend, Ore. - 73-72-78--223
Joel Dahmen, Clarkston, Wash. - 73-77-73--223
Daniel Nisbet, Caboolture, Australia - 76-71-77--224
John Chin, Temecula, Calif. - 74-72-78--224
Robbie Fillmore, Salt Lake City, Utah - 74-76-74--224
Jason Kang, Valencia, Calif. - 79-73-73--225
Michael Knight, Calgary, AB - 75-76-74--225
Stephen Hale, Bakersfield, Calif. - 72-74-79--225
Dustin Garza, Wichita, Kan. - 82-74-70--226
Erik Hanson, Kirkland, Wash. - 72-75-79--226
Evan Derian, Manhattan Beach, Calif. - 72-77-77--226
Zach Sucher, Mobile, Ala. - 77-75-74--226
Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif. - 77-74-76--227
T.J. Bordeaux, Tacoma, Wash. - 72-78-77--227
Jordan Irwin, Calgary, AB - 75-77-76--228
Michael Quagliano, White Plains, N.Y. - 74-79-75--228
Samuel Cyr, Kihei, Hawaii - 79-72-77--228
George Gandranata, Indonesia - 76-74-79--229
Jason Scrivener, Mandurah, Australia - 72-79-78--229
Joey Benedetti, Huntington Beach, Calif. - 75-73-81--229
Mitchell Gregson, Waterloo, Ill. - 79-77-73--229
Mark Sommerfeld, Waterloo, ON - 81-73-76--230
Adam Hadwin, Abbotsford, BC - 75-74-82--231
Paul Haley, Dallas, Texas - 83-73-75--231
Thomas Gocke, Sammamish, Wash. - 77-75-79--231
Brady Exber, Las Vegas, Nev. - 73-82-77--232
Brett Kanda, La Crescenta, Calif. - 77-79-76--232
Connor Driscoll, Encinitas, Calif. - 79-78-75--232
Dan Whitaker, Cle-Elum, Wash. - 79-76-78--233
Bruno Buccolo, Tandill, Argentina - 78-74-82--234
Daniel Lim, Cupertino, Calif. - 77-76-81--234
Matthew Kinsinger, Las Vegas, Nev. - 74-81-80--235
Jordan Nasser, Anaheim Hills, Calif. - 84-73-79--236
Mike McRae, Park City, Utah - 78-77-81--236
Michael Jensen, Los Altos, Calif. - 81-74-82--237
Mark Johnson, Tulsa, Okla. - 77-81-80--238
Jake Yount, Danville, Calif. - 84-76-79--239
Mark Ogren, Daphne, Ala. - 82-78-79--239