Blake Hathcoat Birdies Last Six, wins Saguaro Am in Playoff

MARICOPA, AZ (January 4, 2018) - The final round of the Saguaro Amateur saw one player birdie the final six holes and another fire a tournament record. All that and a playoff between Blake Hathcoat and Drew McCullough was still needed to determine a winner on Thursday after both players finished 12-under Playing at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club Blake Hathcoat started the final round four shots off the lead and was seemingly going to come up just short but a remarkable out of nowhere run of birdies propelled him to the title. Just 1-under for his final round following a bogey on 11th hole the St. Mary's product found another gear as he birdied six straight from Nos. 13 to the house to force himself into a playoff with McCullough. The final birdie on the 18th hole was a four-footer after Hathcoat stuck his approach shot to the par-4 463 yard closing hole. Hathcoat, 7-under 65 on Thursday, then won on the second playoff hole with a par after both players nearly birdied the opening extra hole. McCullough, a senior for Wyoming, thought he had done more than enough to win the title in regulation after he birdied the 54th hole to sign for a final round 9-under 63, setting a new tournament record. A distant six-strokes back when play began McCullough was going along nicely early in his round but at 1-under through six-holes it didn't seem like he would be a factor. That would all change in a flash as McCullough birdied the next two holes and overall eight of his final 12-holes to take a two shot lead into the clubhouse. Auburn's Ryan Knop, the winner of last weeks Orlando International Amateur and December's AGC Tour Championship, finished third at 10-under, 36-hole leader David Laskin of Arizona ended up fourth at 9-under while Arizona State's Koichiro Ishika was fifth at 8-under.