In his first individual tourney in 6 years, Maude wins the Travis

Even the winner could not believe the outcome of the 110th Walter Travis Invitational. On a windy day at Garden City Golf Club, Tug Maude completed an unlikely title run with a 3 and 2 win over Matt Mattare. Maude, who represents Merion Golf Club, was not only playing in his first Travis, but his first individual golf tournament in six years. The 36-year-old gave the mini-tours a try but regained his amateur status but, like many in his stage of life, found little time for competitive golf. But he got a taste of big-time competition last year at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, where he and partner John Sawin advanced to the second round of match play before falling to the eventual champions Cole Hammer and Garrett Barber. The wind that was wreaking havoc at the PGA Championship at nearby Bethpage Black similarly whipped around Garden City, adding to the grind for Maude, who went two holes up early in the title match and held on to hold off Mattare. Earlier Sunday Maude survived a semifinal match with two-time Travis champion Joe Saladino on the 19th hole. Maude finished tied third in the stroke play qualifier with a 1-under 72, one shot behind Saladino and five behind the medalist Jeronimo Esteve. Esteve put together a remarkable scorecard -- thirteen 4s and five 3s -- to medal by four shots. He would make it to the semis before losing to Mattare 2 up. In the Devereux Emmet bracket, Skip Berkmeyer defeated Steve White 2 and 1 in the final match. In the competition for the Travis Senior title, Michael Mercier took the Dwight Eisenhower bracket with a 3 and 2 win over Ken Dardis. Other flight winners were: Bryan Pendrick (Charles B MacDonald), Thomas Parker, Jr. (Robert T Jones), and David Hayes (William H Taft).