Dramatic finish wins tournament for Riley  PGA TOUR Staff BYRON, Minn. -- Chris Riley made a par on the second playoff hole to edge NCAA champion and sponsor's exemption Jamie Lovemark at the $500,000 Rochester Area Charities Showdown at Somerby presented by Think on a windy Father's Day.  Chris Riley finiished with a flourish Sunday. (WireImage)
Riley two-putted from 99 feet for birdie on the final hole of regulation to force a playoff and keep Lovemark from becoming the first amateur to win a Nationwide Tour tournament. Riley took home a check for $90,000 and moved up into "The 25" at 20th on the Nationwide Tour money list from 204th. "I wasn't thinking I had to shoot a certain number today," said Riley, who entered the final round one shot off the lead. "I knew it was going to be tough. Jamie Lovemark played some great golf today." Riley won the 2002 Reno-Tahoe Open on the PGA TOUR and was a member of the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team. After struggling in 2005, Riley finished 2006 at 150th on the PGA TOUR Money List and has played this season with conditional status on the PGA TOUR. His victory was a nice Father's Day gift, as he spent the past week away from his two young children, ages 2 and 1. "Playing golf is the easy part," Riley said. "It's a lonely existence. It takes a lot of sacrifice to come out here and play week in and week out. I had contemplated whether I wanted to keep doing this or not. People don't realize how lonely it is out here when you have a family back home." Lovemark started the day tied for 24th, but turned in a 7-under 65 -- the best of the day -- that moved him into a tie for the lead at 16-under-272 overall. Lovemark's second-place finish matches the best-ever by an amateur in a Nationwide Tour event. Charles Howell finished second at the 2000 Greensboro Open as an amateur and turned pro the following week. Lovemark, a 19-year-old freshman at University of Southern California, won the NCAA individual championship by two strokes. He was also named the 2007 NCAA Player of the Year and a first team All-American. In his stunning round, Lovemark hit 11 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation. He made seven birdies and 11 pars. He had a chance to win, but missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole. After sending a pitching wedge into a greenside bunker on the second playoff hole -- the 150-yard, par-3 17th -- Lovemark missed a 25-foot par putt by inches to make Riley's par putt good for the victory. "I really didn't know what to expect," Lovemark said of his first Nationwide Tour event. "This is the second-best tour in the world and I learned a lot from playing with guys like this." Strong winds gusting as high as 35 mph made for some tough going in the late afternoon. Ten players entered the day within two shots of the lead and Riley was the only one of that group to break par. "The story of my week was my putter," said Riley, who was seventh in putting this week, averaging 28.25 putts per round. "It's the first week I've used this putter in over a year. I wasn't making many putts so I went into my closet and pulled out my old Ping Answer. I made everything I had to this week, so that guy will stay with me for a while." News & Notes: The win is Riley's first top-10 finish since finishing T5 at the 2006 Valero Texas Open on the PGA TOUR... The tournament was the fourth playoff on Tour this year... The Nationwide Tour heads to Knoxville, TN, next week for the Knoxville Open presented by Food City, the 15th of 32 official events on the Nationwide Tour -- one of four original Nationwide Tour events remaining from when the Tour began in 1990. Hunter Haas returns in 2007, attempting to become the first player in Nationwide Tour history to successfully defend a tournament title. |
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