It took Benton's Austin Harmon nearly two rounds, 34 holes to be exact, to build a six-shot lead Saturday in the Maumelle Classic.
It took him two holes to lose it.
Harmon, who lost in a playoff last year, was six strokes ahead of playing partner Ben Sanders when he stepped to the No. 17 tee box at Maumelle Country Club.
Thirty minutes later, after back-to-back triple bogeys, Harmon walked off the course trailing Price Murphree by two strokes.
A three-putt from 3 feet on the par-3 17th and a bad tee shot and wayward second shot on the par-4 18th contributed to Harmon's undoing.
"I just kind of lost it there those last two holes," Harmon said. "Just totally went the wrong direction."
Harmon started the day with a four-shot lead over playing partners D.J. Godoy and Sanders. He was 7 under when he shot 34 on the front nine, and still led by six shots after bogeying the par-4 11th.
The lead stayed at six as Harmon parred five consecutive holes to remain at 6 under, with Sanders at even par and Godoy 1 over heading into the 17th.
Harmon was short with a 7-iron from 200 yards on the uphill par-3 then hit his chip short, not even close to the front of the green. He recovered with his third, running his chip 3 feet past the hole. His bogey try went 3 feet past the hole and his doubl-bogey attempt went near the same spot where he first putted. The resulting three-putt left him three shots in front of Godoy, who birdied, and four ahead of Sanders, who bogeyed.
The 18th, Harmon's nemesis a year ago when a double bogey put him into a three-man playoff which he ultimately lost to Noah Tullos, has not been kind to him this year either.
Harmon, a junior at Central Baptist College in Conway, made bogey in Friday's first round, a result he would have settled for on Saturday.
His tee shot on the 425-yard dogleg went left and nearly out of bounds, landing under a large fallen tree branch in front of a row of condominiums. Harmon was unsure of whether the ball went out of bounds, so he hit provisional tee shot went left, too, but would have been more handy had his first tee shot not been found.
Harmon declared the ball unplayable, a one-stroke penalty, and was allowed to move the ball two club lengths from the tree.
As it turned out, Harmon could have played his original ball because it never moved when the branch was removed, but Harmon said he felt that decision was the proper call. Harmon hit a wedge over the condos, but the ball landed out of bounds. He punched out to the 150-yard marker where he hit his sixth shot within 12 feet. He made the putt for a 7, his second triple bogey in as many holes.
"I had been better off if the first tee shot had been out of bounds and got to play my provisional," Harmon said. "When the ball didn't move after I placed my tees for the drop and moved the branch, I still thought I was better off declaring it unplayable because if it had moved I would have been in worse trouble. Then I hit the wedge because those condos were right there and I was afraid I might have broken a window. It was a struggle there."
Murphree, a 20-year-old from Camden playing in the group ahead of Harmon, began his round five strokes behind the leader after an even-par 72 on Friday. He was still five back after a 2-under 34 on the front nine and crept to four behind despite a bogey on the 16th. But back-to-back pars coupled with Harmon's struggles on the final two holes shot the Henderson State junior into a two-stroke lead heading into today's final round.
"I wasn't expecting to be in the lead when I finished my round," said Murphey, who shot 70 for a two-day total of 142. "Austin's a very good player and I know he had a couple of tough breaks. I just played my game and hit some solid shots."
Murphree birdied Nos. 1, 7 and 9, hitting pitching wedges within 4 feet on the latter two to go out at 34. His birdie at 15 gave him four for the day to offset bogeys at Nos. 4 and 16.
Murphree came from four shots down with four holes to play last week at a two-day tournament in Camden, ultimately winning in a two-hole playoff after shooting a 65 in the second round. He said his approach will be the same today as he tees off in the final group with Harmon and Godoy, who finished Saturday with a 1-over 73 to drop back to even.
"I'll have the same mentality like last week, just hit fairways and greens and eliminate the big scores," Murphree said.
Wes McNulty of White Hall is alone in fourth place at 1 over after shooting a 72 Saturday. Tied for fifth is Wess Webb of El Dorado and Eddie Craven of Maumelle. Craven, Sanders, who made double bogey on the 18th to drop to 3 over, and Otto Fry of Maumelle are all playing on their home course. Murphree, Sanders and Fry (tied for 10th) shared Saturday's low round of 70.
Sports on 07/26/2015