Cory Bacon wins Arizona Stroke Play with 10 shots to spare

This weekend, Cory Bacon was far and away the best player at the Arizona Stroke Play Championship. An opening 72 was pedestrian enough, but subsequent rounds of 65-66-66 on Verrado Golf Club’s Founder’s and Victory courses were enough for a double-digit victory. Bacon, 29, didn’t make a bogey in his final 32 holes.

Bacon works as a senior engineer at Ping Golf. He won the 2016 Arizona Amateur Championship, a match-play event, after defeating current PGA Tour Champions player Ken Tanigawa.

“My win from three years ago and this one are my top two wins. It’s definitely sweet. This is my first stroke play win,” Bacon told the Arizona Golf Association.

Bacon’s 19-under 269 was 10 shots better than runner-up Trevor Lampson, a junior at Grand Canyon University.

“The two rounds at the Victory Course (Rounds 2 and 3) were amazing,” Bacon said. “I putted really well on those greens. Out here today, my goal was to protect my four-shot lead and make a lot of pars. I didn’t miss any short putts and that was the key.”

Grand Canyon sophomore Max Sekulic wound up at 6 under for the tournament, finishing third and thirteen shots behind the champion. Michael Lawson Jr., in four at 1 under, was the only other player to finish 72 holes under par.

Information from the Arizona Golf Association used in this report