Willie Mack III with another triumph at APGA Tour Queen’s Harbour

Prominent APGA Tour star and rising pro golfer Willie Mack III used a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat longtime standout Tommy Schaff and capture the APGA Tour at Queen’s Harbour Championship.

The lengthy putt on the 18th hole enabled Mack to overcome a bogey on the final hole of regulation, dropping him into a playoff with Schaff, whose 3-under 69 was far and away the best round of the day. Both players finished with a two-day total of 143.

“It’s always good to win,” offered Mack, who elevated his career last summer by making the cut in two PGA TOUR events before just missing at Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in November. “There’s some great players out here and Tommy’s one of them.”

Mack missed the green on the first playoff hole but got up and down to stay alive while Schaff missed a makeable uphill putt. “That was almost like a birdie,” added Mack, whose mother was in the gallery. “It was nice having her here, for sure. Last time she came, I won, so maybe she needs to be out here more often.”

Brad Adamonis of Ponte Vedra, Florida, finished third at 146 with Kamaiu Johnson of Oviedo, Florida, fourth at 148. Five players tied for fifth, including Jacksonville resident Jarred Garcia and Tim O’Neal, who won APGA Tour at TPC Harding Park in February. O’Neal will start the Korn Ferry Tour’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation May 5-8 in College Grove, Tennessee, on a sponsor exemption earned at the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational in January.

Schaff, who played on the APGA Tour during its first season in 2010, had four straight birdies on the front nine to surge into contention and then delivered nine straight pars on the back for his 69. Now hailing from Ridgeland, South Carolina, Schaff has held status on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and is longtime friends and sometime caddie for O’Neal, who will turn 50 in August and is eyeing possible exemption opportunities on the PGA TOUR Champions.

Mack won $7,500 from the $25,000 purse and is now among the leaders in the Lexus Cup Point Standings competition that he captured in 2021.

The APGA Tour is back in action on April 2-3 with the APGA Tour at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

The APGA Tour was established in 2010 with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs, and introducing the game to inner-city young people The tour has grown from seven events with $200,000 in prize money in 2020 and 14 events with over $400,000 in prize money in 2021, and now 18 events with over $700,000 in prize money in 2022.