Ron Carter birdies first playoff hole to win Gateway Senior

FT. MYERS, Fla. (Jan. 11, 2015) — The Gateway Senior Invitational went down to the wire on Saturday with Ron Carter of Indiana and Mark Weston of Florida needing extra holes to decide the winner. Before getting to the playoff hole, Carter, of Monticello, Ind., trailed Weston, of Windermere, Fla., by three shots entering the final round. Carter, who had two big wins in 2014 (Old Corkscrew Senior and Golfweek Senior Amateur) made up all three of those shots with a 35 on the front nine. Then Carter slipped in a curling birdie putt from 15 feet on 17 to go up by one before Weston answered right back with a 10-foot birdie on the 18th. It was another birdie by Carter on the first playoff hole that secured him the win. Defending champion Steve Groom fought back from an opening-round 80 to tie for third place with back-to-back 73s on Friday and Saturday. Mike Occi of Clarksville, Md. and Paul Schlachter of Pittsburgh also finished at 226 in a tie for third. Bob Kearney, the Houston, Texas resident who won last week's Old Corkscrew Senior Invitational, tied for ninth place with rounds of 76-73-79. In the super senior division, John Cuomo won by three shooting 75-73-72. Berger Warner took second while Jerry Caplinger finished third.