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EllisBy LES GILESGk) be-News Sports Writerdominate ACC tourneyRalph Ellis and Reid Sidwell continued their dominance of the Amarillo Country Club Whing Ding Invitational on Saturday, but it was far from easy.They shot 9-under-par 62 to claim a three-shot triumph over Texas AM University players Ty Cox and Casey Cronin. However, with five holes to play the margin was just one shot after Cronin eagled the par 5 13th.Ellis and Sidwell finished this 54-hole low ball event at 24-undcr 189, while Cox and Cronin were 21-under192.The 24-under was still not close to the all-time tournament record of 27-under established in 1997 by Ryan Palmer and Judd Burtcett.By winning this tournament for the second straight year, and for the fourth time in the last five years, Ellis and Sidwell earned a berth in the Great Western Directories Tournament of Champions in three weeks.There is one T of C qualifying event remaining, the Coors Partnership at Comanche Trail beginning on Friday.Ellis and Sidwell began the final round two strokes ahead of Cox and Cronin. \nd both teams started the round in an explosive manner.Cox rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt at the first hole, only to see Sidwell match it with a lenethv one of hisown.Both teams birdied 2, before Cronin drained a 30-footer art 3 to movehe and Cox within a shot.Ellis birdied 5 and 8 to give the pair a three-shot advantage, before both teams birdied 9,Cox and Cronin played the front nine in 4-under 31, but lost ground to Ellis and Sid well's 5-under 30.After both teams parrcd the first three holes on the back nine, Cronin lashed a long iron within 4-feet at the 529-yard par 5 13th. When he rolledthe putt in, the margin was down to a shot with five holes remaining.However, over those final fiveholes, Sidwell and Ellis each draineda crucial putt to keep the team in the lead.At 14, Sidwell drained a 15-footer for birdie and a two-shot cushion.“I thought that was huge, he said. They had just closed to within a shot, and with five holes to go anything could have happened.Ellis' approach at 16 left him inside 3-feet, for another birdie that again put the margin at three strokesBut at 17, Cronin chipped in for an improbably birdie when he missed the 215-yard par 3 hole wide right.After Sidwell was out of the hole, because of a poor tec shot, Ellis was faced with a 15-foot par putt after exploding from a sand trap He calmly drained it, enabling the pair to go to 18 with a two-shot advantage.Cox birdied the final hole to put his team 21-under. After Ellis missedan eagle putt from 12-15 feet, Sidwell rolled one in from about 5-feet to wrap thing up,My putt was big at 14, for birdie, but Ralph's par putt at 17 was probably bigger. If he didn’t make that, our lead would have been one stroke, ami they could have flipped us to win, at 18. As it was, they would have had to make eagle, and us a par, just to tie,For the tournament, Ellis and Sidwell collected 25 birdies and one eagle in the low ball format. They also had two bogeys in Thursday's opening round.Cox and Cronin recorded 17 birdies, two eagles and did not have a bogey collectively.“That was the difference, Cronin said. They just made more birdies than we did. When we got within one shot with five holes to go, I thought we might win.“But they made a couple of big putt* the rest of the way.“We didn’t beat ourselves, Cox added We gave ourselves a lot of opportunities. They just beat us”Much like Friday’s second round, Ellis and Sidwell split the birdies in round three.Each contributed five birdies in their round of I O-under 61 In the final round, Ellis birdies, while Sidwell had three, plus the closing eagle.And over the final 36 holes, theon Friday.made fourAnnette M Drowtette / Globe-New*Reid Sidwell, left, and Ralph Elliott look over a shot during the Whing Ding Invitational on Saturday at Amarillo Country Club.y time one of them made a birdie it didn’t count was at the 54th : when Sidwell *s eagle topped El-birdic
Newspaper Details
Amarillo Sunday News Globe
Amarillo, Texas, US
Sun, Aug 08, 1999
Page 148
Full Page
Clipped by
Donald T.
USA 20 Feb 2023
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