Indiana Mid-Amateur win is Sweet Revenge for Brett Widner

LEESBURG, IN (August 17, 2018) - In 2016, Brett Widner of Avon had at a two shot lead during the final round of the IGA Mid-Amateur Championship at Tippecanoe Lake CC heading to the par-4, 18th. After pulling his tee shot into the left rough, Widner was forced to punch out – which resulted in his ball hitting a tree just right of the green and being knocked out of bounds. He went on to make 7 and lost the event by one shot to Sean Rowen of Greenwood. This year, Widner’s finish was just as memorable.

Today, Widner’s tee shot once again found the all-too-familiar left rough, heading to 18 tied for the lead with Brian Harris of Carmel and Tracy Miller of Bremen. This time, he had a clear shot to the green and hit his approach shot to 20 feet. After Harris two-putted for par, Widner knocked in his 20 foot slider for birdie and the title - with a crowd there to cheer him on.

“Before I hit my putt, Mike (Williams) whispered, ‘do you have some magic in you?’” said Widner. “I smiled, trusted my line, and tried to put the best roll on the ball that I could.”

Throughout the day, it looked like Harris or Miller would come out on top, as they battled back and forth for the majority of the day. But Widner never gave up – always keeping himself within one to two shots of the lead and hanging on until the very end.

“This win is emotional for me after what happened a couple years back,” said Widner. “There are so many good players in this field and at least 20 had a realistic chance to win after yesterday. It feels really good to have pulled it off.”

This is Widner’s third IGA Mid-Amateur Championship, with previous wins coming in ’13 and ’14. To cap off his year, Widner hopes to qualify for the USGA Mid-Amateur Championship in next week’s qualifier at Crooked Stick Golf Club.