Headline: Paul Murphy and Jim Finnerty Come From Behind to Capture the 2010 Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship by One Stroke
For Immediate Release: August 30, 2010
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Paul Murphy (right) and Jim Finnerty celebrate after winning the 2010 Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship title. |
South Hadley, MA — When it's meant to be, magical things seem to happen.
Trailing the first-round leaders heading into the 380-yard, par 4 15th hole at The Orchards Golf Course, Jim Finnerty (Stockbridge GC) pulled his tee shot. (story continues below)
Day 2 Quick Links
The Golf Gods must have been watching over Finnerty and his partner Paul Murphy (Charles River CC) because his drive bounced off a root and kicked back into the rough. Finnerty then sent his 6-iron approach into the hole for an eagle.
That one sequence of shots summed up what was an incredible two-day tournament for Murphy and Finnerty as they won their first career Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship this afternoon with a score of 14-under par 129.
"It was destiny," said an incredulous Murphy. "Golf is a crazy game. When you're making shots from 175 yards out, you know that something is going your way."
Even Finnerty, who met his partner while he was a student at Boston College and Murphy was across the way at Providence College, couldn't believe that his shot dropped into the hole.
"I selected a 6 iron and I was going to play into the center of the green and then at the last second I said that I was going to hit right at the pin," explained Finnerty. "I almost said to Murph ‘let me show you a golf shot here' because we had been going along par-par-par and nothing was happening. I just hit a perfect shot. I absolutely flushed a 6 iron right at the flag."
Following that eagle shot by Finnerty, Murphy kept pace with his partner and friend of more than 30 years by chipping in from 30 yards off the green just minutes later – on 456-yard, par 5 16th hole.
"During the first round he had five or six little sand wedge pitch shots to the green and he hit every one to two feet," said Finnerty. "It was incredible. He put on a clinic on pitching the ball. So I am standing there thinking here is another one of those shots and he just pitched it perfectly. He couldn't see the hole where he was but it landed perfectly, took the break and it was one of those things where you were thinking it was a good shot, then a great shot and then it has a chance to go in and it broke perfectly and died into the hole. It was a fantastic shot."
A birdie on the 178-yard, par 3 17th hole – Murphy drained a six-foot birdie putt – capped off a scoring stretch of 2-3-2.
"It was crazy. It was ridiculous," said Murphy. "We had it 3 under after nine holes and I was saying that it was good but we have to step it up if we want to win. We started making some pars and I knew that after making three more pars, we'll finish in the top 10 but we aren't going to win and then all of a sudden Finnerty hits that shot."
The second-round score of 8-under par 63 tied the low score of the day and combined with a solid score of 6-under par 64 fired on Monday at Westover Golf Course. Their performance this week also completed what has been a progression of great play at this event especially over the past three years. In fact, the team finished T5 in 2008 and then last year they were just one stroke off the pace for a T4 performance.
"We have improved every year, but doing what we did in the last four holes was amazing," said Murphy.
For Murphy, it has been a month of golf that seems to keep getting better. Days after being just one of four Bay State seniors to compete in the 2010 British Senior Amateur Championship, he finished as medalist at U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying. This latest championship also represents the second MGA title he has won in 11 months as he was victorious at the 2009 Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship last September.
"He is a great player there is no question about it," said Finnerty. "He played incredibly well in both rounds, and it's not easy to help someone who plays as well as he does. My job is to make something happen, make a few birdies or do something. He played really well and I give him all the credit."
Missing out on the title by just one stroke were day-one leaders Jack Kearney (Elmcrest CC) and Bill Barry (Elmcrest CC). Unlike the first day when they registered nine birdies and zero bogies, the pair could not repeat the magic as they suffered three costly bogies – on the 1st, 7th and 17th holes – which dropped them to 13-under par 130.
"It was unbelievable," said Kearney, who was playing in his first Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship. "We made a par, birdie and bogey on that same stretch of holes [15-17] so that was a five-stroke swing right there. We didn't play great, but we thought that 4 under was pretty good especially considering how well we played the day before. We were a little surprised to learn that there was a 14 under par in the clubhouse, but that's the way it goes. Golf is just a cruel and humbling game sometimes."
True to those words, while Kearney and Barry saw their title hopes fade away as they made par on the final hole, Murphy and Finnerty were in the clubhouse celebrating an amazing day that will be hard to repeat.
"I remember playing with Murph years ago and we were coming down to the final holes and he said ‘will the magic happen'," said Finnerty. "Every once and a while everything falls into place on the final few holes and today was one of those days."
Just The (Course) Facts
One of the features of the TPP Scoring Program that is used by the Massachusetts Golf Association for all of its championship events is the course statistics section which provides a detailed analysis of the holes played by the competitors.
Here is a brief summary of key statistics from this year's Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship.
Click here for a complete list of course statistics from this year's Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship.
Looking Forward to 2011
The 2011 season will feature an earlier date and a Cape Cod location!
In hopes of providing the senior amateurs with a competitive four-ball event earlier in the season, the 2011 Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship will be held on June 7-8 at The Golf Club of Cape Cod (East Falmouth) and the Willowbend Country Club (Mashpee).
A complete list of future MGA, New England Golf Association (NEGA) and United States Golf Association (USGA) can be found online by clicking here. The information is updated throughout the year as sites and dates are confirmed.
