Mathis-Lewis win CDGA Four-Ball Title 3&2 Over Jenkins-Baird

Four feet.

That was all Matt Mathis needed to negotiate on the par-3 16^th hole at The Honors on Sunday to secure the CDGA Four-Ball Match Play Championship for him and partner Taylor Lewis.

Those four feet separated Mathis from a birdie that would finally dispatch the crafty veteran tandem of Mike Jenkins and Tom Baird. As Mathis stood over the putt, he had just one thought in mind.

“We were both getting a little tired,” Mathis said. “We didn’t want them coming back on us.”

With Baird already in the hole with a birdie, Mathis knew he needed to make his putt, too, or risk going to the par-5 17^th hole, where, over the years, about anything you can think of has happened in tournament play.

With a deft pass of his putter, Mathis sent his short putt toward the hole, and when it disappeared from view, he and Lewis were 3 and 2 winners.

Mathis, who won the Brainerd Invitational in May, and Lewis, who won his second straight Metro Championship last month, figured to be a formidable team, and they were. But they sure got their entry fee’s worth in the Four-Ball.

“We didn’t have one match go less than 18 holes,” Mathis said.

“It was a struggle at times,” Lewis said.

That was in evidence during the duo’s morning match, against Pete Webster and Walt Moffitt. Ahead 2-up with three-holes to play, Mathis and Lewis watched as their opponents birdied 16 and 17 to square the match. When both teams parred No. 18, it was on to extra holes.

It took Lewis’s birdie at the par-5 2^nd hole to secure a 1-up, 20-hole victory.

Lewis was less than pleased with his ball striking for the final two days of the tournament, but his mastery of the par-5s at The Honors staked his team to an early 1-up lead against Jenkins and Baird and then held them at bay the rest of the round.

Lewis eagled No. 2 for a 1-up lead, and then, after Baird rolled in a birdie at the par-5 6^th, Lewis drained his own birdie putt to preserve that scant advantage.

Lewis would duplicate that feat at the par-5 11^th—after Jenkins made birdie, Lewis sidled up to a 10-footer for birdie and calmly rolled it in the cup. Lewis and Mathis were milking that 1-up advantage for all it was worth.

Separation finally came at the par-4 13^th, when Mathis birdied, and the par-3 14^th, where Lewis made another 10 footer for yet another birdie. With a 3-up advantage with four holes to play, Mathis and Lewis felt good about their chances, but neither had forgotten their morning match.

When the teams halved No. 15 with pars, the pressure was on Jenkins and Baird. And to their credit, they responded. After Mathis stuck an 8-iron to four feet, Baird, hitting last, came up with a clutch shot that stopped four feet and change from the hole. When he made his putt, Mathis was on center stage.

Considering how long he’d been on the golf course already, Mathis practically willed his ball in the hole. There’s only so much fun a man can have in a day.

“It was a great match,” Mathis said. “But it was time to go home. I mean, all day long, they were just one putt away from stealing the momentum from us. They really played well.”

Jenkins and Baird had their chances to turn the outcome in their favor. They missed birdie putts anywhere from eight to 12 feet at No. 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13 and 14.

“We hit the ball well all day,” Jenkins said. “We just missed so many putts. We never could put the pressure on them.”