Haag wins Oakland City - Travis fires 63

OAKLAND, Calif. (May 23, 2010) -- Last weekend, amateurgolf.com reported on one of the greatest day to day improvements possible for a top-finishing player, when Greg Moss shaved a full 14 strokes off of his first round 76 with a near course record 62 in the second round at Brookside G.C. in Pasadena. He ended up winning the 72 hole event by a single shot. Today at Oakland's Lake Chabot -- in a tourney that is seeing better times after a brief hiatus several years back -- Taylor Travis went Moss 2 strokes better and went 79-63, moving past 22 players to finish in 2nd. Travis' turnaround simply meant that 2-under par had been posted in the 36 hole event, but likely did little to effect the final outcome. Randy Haag of Burlingame, leading Ryan Thomas by 2 strokes heading into the final round after a 4-under 68 on Saturday, went out with guns blazing again on Sunday and easily took control of his pairing, and the tournament. A 3-under 33 on the front nine extended Haag's lead, but the 2009 NCGA Player-of-the-Year stumbled with a triple bogey on the 14th (a four shot swing to Travis' birdie). Haag righted the ship with a par on No. 15, and a remarkable birdie-birdie-eagle finish. (It was the second straight day that he eagled the unique par 6 18th hole at Lake Chabot.) Despite the triple bogey, Haag shot 67 to finish with 9-under 135 and a 7 stroke victory. In the Senior Division Mark Miller of Antioch also won big, firing 3-under 141 to cruise to a 12 stroke victory over Peter Moren and Scott Anderson. NOTES: * Randy Haag commented on the event: "This is my first victory in the Oakland City, but I remember shooting 12-under par in the event when it was 72 holes back in the 1980's," said Haag. "I lost to [Bay Area legend, ed] Bob Blomberg - he eagled, to my birdie on the last hole to win by one." Haag also commended the Tournament Committee for sending a letter inviting him back to the event after he played in 2009. * About that par 6 - It's 673-yards, with a fairway like a ski slope (downhill). But the drive is tight, and big numbers are in play when trying to chase a long drive down the hill to have a chance to hit it in two. There were two double eagle 3's recorded at the 18th: Saturday: Sean Etow Sunday: Taylor Hobin * Full field scores from all divisions are available by clicking on the results link below.