Cornell wins in playoff

Nebraska golfer outlasts Persons on second sudden-death playoff hole for title

By Jenny Kirk

MARSHALL - After leading two days into the Dakotas Tour/MGC Great Plains Open, Judd Cornell wasn't about to relinquish that lead.

That was even after a tie with Josh Persons forced a sudden-death playoff for first place.

"It feels great to win," Cornell said. "It was a battle out there. No one wanted to win it for awhile. But, I'm proud of how I hung in there."

On the par-5 No. 1 hole, Cornell and Persons faced off for the overall championship. Both golfers hit solid tee shots, with Cornell in the middle of the fairway and Persons slightly in the rough. After the second shot, Persons' ball landed just over the green, while Cornell's ball found the sand trap to the right of the green.

Both competitors chipped on easily, but Persons had the shorter putt. When they both made par, the duo moved on to No. 2.

The championship title was determined after Persons hit an out-of-bounds tee shot, while Cornell found the middle of the fairway after teeing off. The two-stroke penalty for Persons was too much as Cornell played it safe and laid up his second shot en route to making par to clinch the victory. Persons was on the green in five, but Cornell's precision didn't allow the competition to continue.

"The pressure was totally off when Persons hit his tee shot out-of-bounds," Cornell said. "I just had to go up there and make a par. He hit some great shots on the first hole. I thought he was going to make the putt, but he just missed it. Then, I won the second hole. It feels great to win it."

Cornell added $8,000 to his pocket with the win, while Persons came away with $5,000. Twenty-eight places were paid out, with the final place taking home $300.

Cornell's hometown is Omaha, Neb., and Persons is from Fargo, N.D. Both golfers are in their second year on the professional golf tour and appear to be at the top of their game. Persons won the previous tournament in Aberdeen, while Cornell's other win came two weeks ago in Okoboji, Iowa.

"I made a few stupid mistakes and that's why I didn't win," Persons said. "I just hit a bad shot there on the second playoff hole. I was right there so I can't complain. In fairness to Judd, he played really well. That's what you ask for is a shot to win and I had a shot. I just didn't take advantage of it."

Heading into the third day, Cornell clung to a four-stroke lead (130) over the other 27 pro golfers that made the cut. Persons was in third place and five strokes behind Cornell. Brady Schnell's two-day score of 134 placed him in second.

Persons shot a round of 68, which is 3-under par, to force the tie with Cornell. Schnell finished in a three-way tie for 10th after firing a 74 in his final round.

As the leader, Cornell found himself in a new predicament.

"When you have the lead, there's actually tremendous pressure on you because you're expected to win," said Cornell. "You don't want to be the guy that blows a four-shot lead. I've never been that far ahead going into the final round. All of my wins have been from behind, so it was good to have that experience."

To start the day, Cornell shot a par 36 on the front nine. He parred all except four holes, and of those, he birdied two and bogied two. On the back nine, Cornell shot 2-over par for a final round of 73. He birdied No. 11 and settled for a bogey on three holes.

On the flip side, Persons knew he had to shore up his game if he wanted to beat Cornell. On the front nine, Persons had a bogey on the second hole and then birdied No. 6 and 7 to finish the front with 1-under par.

Then, on the back nine, Persons opened with two par holes and then a birdie, par and another birdie before shooting his first bogey of the round. He earned a final birdie on the 17th hole for an 18-hole score of 68, or 3-under par.

"Things have been going my way lately," said Persons. "Unfortunately, it didn't go my way today. I knew that I had to play well in order to get into the playoff. I was fortunate to get there, but you still want to win."

A.J. Elgert and Jess Lanham tied for third place with 204s, while Young Joo shot a 205 to take fifth. Bret Swedberg's 206 was good enough for sixth place.

MGC club pro Allen Lucht was impressed with this year's field of pro golfers.

"Cornell was really solid throughout the tournament, although he was a little bit shaky today," said Lucht. "Persons won the last tournament and he was right on top of Cornell for this one. It's tough to win two in a row though because of how of how good these players are. A lot of these kids are swinging really well."

Although Lucht was a little disappointed in the number of spectators this year, he said he thought the tournament ran smoothly.

"The players enjoyed the golf course again this year and we hope to have a very successful Pro-Am experience again next year," Lucht said.

Great Plains Open Results

203-Judd Cornell* (65-65-73), Josh Persons (69-66-68)

204-A.J. Elgert (68-68-68), Jesse Lanham (68-69-67)

205-Young Joo (69-69-67)

206-Bret Swedberg (68-69-69)

207-Barry O'Neill (73-68-66), Mike Vance (67-72-68), Ashdon Woods (66-72-69)

208-Adam Hagen (71-67-70), Adam Wynia (67-69-72), Brady Schnell (68-66-74)

209-Kevin Starr (70-71-68)

210-Ryan Conn (65-74-71), Nathan Spencer (70-67-73)

211-Neil Johnson (71-70-70), Robb Bierbaum (69-69-73), Andre Metzger (70-67-74)

212-Dustin Wigington (68-71-73), Travis Stockholm (71-69-72), Tim Ailes (70-69-73)

213-E.A. Tischler (68-73-72), Eric Bailey (71-68-74)

214-Bryan Newman (71-70-73)

216-Michael Berg (71-70-75)

217-Jesse Talcott (71-69-77), Chris Dickson (70-69-78)

219-Robert Mink (73-67-79)

*won by sudden death playoff