Putter Propels Vizina to Victory at Minnesota Senior Open

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Sinking two long birdie chances on the final two holes Friday at Minnesota Valley Country Club, professional Tom Vizina erased a three-stroke lead by Dave Podas to claim his first Minnesota Senior Open following his final-round 71.

Podas took the early lead after firing a 3-under par 70 during Thursday’s opening round and carried that lead until finding trouble at the 17th hole Friday where he lipped a short bogey putt after Vizina sank his 15-foot birdie chance.

Deadlocked at 1-under for the tournament on the final green, Vizina drained a 30-foot putt, while Podas could only tap-in for par as Vizina sealed the championship, putting an end to Don Berry’s four-year run in the process.

“After I bogeyed 14 I was down three and just wanted to make pars to finish,” Vizina said. “I didn’t think I was going to catch [Podas], he played so solid. I made two shaky pars after that and when he pushed his shot into the bunker [at No. 17], I thought I’d throw it back and the flag and see if I can get lucky. 

“Dave rolled it so good all day and his [bogey putt] on 17 was the first thing he’d missed. I thought I’d maybe be one down going to the final hole.”

Both Podas and Vizina’s approaches landed well short of the pin on the back of the 18th green as the two had similar distances and lines for birdie.

“His putt didn’t break at all coming down the slope and that helped because I was going to play it almost two feet out,” Vizina explained. “When his didn’t break I decided to play it three inches outside and it held the line and the rest is history.”

Following his opening round Thursday, Vizina said he hoped to be in a position to play aggressively during the final nine holes of the tournament and that plan proved beneficial as Vizina began the final round with a birdie on the opening hole before adding a second at the par-5 fifth to move to 2-under for the tournament.

A pair of late bogeys on the front nine returned Vizina to even par as Podas regained a three-shot lead heading to the final nine.

Podas rolled in a long birdie at the 10th to take a four-shot lead, but a bogey at the 11th and a Vizina birdie narrowed the margin to just two strokes before. Failing to get up-and-down for par at the 14th gave Podas a three-shot margin once again before finding the sand from the right rough on 17.

Podas’ third landed well short of the pin and would three-putt, while Vizina’s approach landed 15 feet short and right of the flag. Podas found trouble off the tee again on 18 as his ball found the left rough and he would punch out to the right side of the fairway on the par-5 final hole.

His approach would land 35 feet short of the flag, but he lagged nicely to inside three feet before Vizina’s birdie chance from 30 feet found the bottom of the cup.

“I was keeping track of where we stood in my mind but after you make a couple of shots and miss a couple of shots you start grinding and not paying attention to what the other person is doing,” Vizina said about the final two holes Friday. “He gave me an opportunity on 17 and I hit a great shot and made the putt and that got me more excited.

“For me, I don’t play a lot of competitive golf anymore—I play in maybe three or four section events, so to get in the hunt is a lot of fun for me. I don’t hit it anywhere like I used to hit it but I can still hit it good enough to get it in the hole once and awhile.”

Podas, the Director of Golf at Bel-Air Country Club, finished the final round at 2-over par 75 but insisted he enjoyed coming back home to play a fun event with a lot of his friends. He grew up playing Hiawatha Golf Course before eventually becoming head pro at Minneapolis Golf Club.

“It was fun to come up and see everybody and compete. I'm from here and we're all getting older so it was a lot of fun. This week I did a lot of good things and hit a lot of good shots," Podas said. “I wasn't trying to do anything in particular today—this golf course I had to play pretty defensive. It's narrow, the greens are very hard and I just wanted to hit the ball in the fairway and on the green and I was doing that for most of the day."

After the trophies were handed out and the skies gave way to heavy rain, Podas, needing to catch a flight back to Los Angeles Friday, continued to shake his head about the short bogey putt at the 17th.

“I still can’t believe I made a double-bogey on 17. I did my very best not to pay attention to what anyone else was doing. I thought if I played at par or better that I'd be just fine,” Podas said. “I knew [Vizina] was playing well and I hadn't been keeping track before I missed the putt [on 17] but his three to my six had to do something—I didn't know what, but I didn't want to spend any time figuring it out.

"From there I just wanted to play steady on 18, but when he made that final putt I thought, 'I don't like the looks of that.' He made a great putt; he had a great finish and when you finish birdie-birdie to win a championship, God bless you."

Rick Frieburg, Monticello Country Club, earned Low-Amateur honors Friday as his final-round 3-under par 70 put him in a tie for third at 147 along with four-time defending champion Berry. 



2016 MINNESOTA SENIOR OPEN
MINNESOTA VALLEY COUNTRY CLUB
BLOOMINGTON, MINN.
6,665 YARDS, PAR 73


FINAL RESULTS
1. Tom Vizina, The Oaks GC, 73-71—144
2. Dave Podas, Bel-Air CC, 70-75—145
T3. Rick Frieburg (a), Monticello CC, 77-70—147
T3. Don Berry, Edinburgh USA, 74-73—147
5. Matt Yeager (a), Minnesota Valley CC, 78-71—149
T6. Mark Porkorney (a), Alexandria GC, 76-74—150
T6. Bill Israelson, The Vintage, 76-74—150
T6. Ken Gerzsenyi (a), Eastwood GC, 73-77—150
T6. Bob Miller, Minnewaska GC, 73-77—150
T10. Bump Werness, Golf Galaxy, 77-74—151
T10. Jay Norman, TPC Twin Cities, 76-75—151
T10. Jon Empanger (a), Island View GC, 77-74—151
T10. Carl Horsch (a), Hazeltine Nat’l GC, 76-75—151


For complete tournament results go to: https://mnpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/mnpga16/event/mnpga1617/contest/10/leaderboard.htm