UTC’s Bryce Ledford said it may have been the best putt he has ever made.

The 21-year-old UT-Chattanooga junior drained a 40-foot par putt on No. 16 and held on for a 1-up victory over Greg Privette in the 2005 Chattanooga TPC final on Sunday afternoon at the Council Fire Golf Club.

Ledford retained his title with the 1-up victory over Privette. He advanced to the final with a 5 and 4 victory over three-time champion Pat Corey in a semifinal on Sunday morning. Privette moved to the final with a 2 and 1 win over Chase Deck.

After being 1-down to Privette after 11 holes, Ledford began his rally. In fact, he was 2-down after 3 holes. Privette, who had a sensational TPC effort, was 4-under-par after five holes.

On No. 12, Ledford recorded a birdie as the match went all-square. Both players made pars on No. 13.

Ledford's birie putt on #12 to square match

Ledford went 1-up on No. 14 with a par, then 2-up on No. 15 with another par.

At No. 16, the turning point, Privette seemed primed to move the match back to only 1-down. Looking at a 30+-foot par putt, however, Ledford made it and kept his 2-up lead with two to play.

“It must have been a 40- to 50-footer,’’ Ledford said. “And it broke about 15-feet to the right. It may have been the biggest putt I’ve ever made.’’

Privette came back on No. 17 with a par and moved back to 1-down, but Ledford won the match when both players made birdie on No. 18.

The victory capped a fabulous summer run for Ledford, who won the Chattanooga Metro and the True Temper. He also finished as the runner-up in the State Amateur when champion Tim Jackson birdied his last five holes.

“I should have won that,’’ Ledford said.

Ledford will continue his junior season at UTC this week with a trip to Orlando, but in the meantime will cherish the TPC victory.

“That was pretty neat,’’ he said. “It’s nice to repeat.

“Today was the first time I had been down like that in a long time, but I kept fighting. Greg just kept hitting great shots.’’

After advancing to the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon, Ledford said he was still trying to figure out his game.

“Well, I guess I figured it out,’’ he said. “This should give me a lot of confidence, because I really had to work hard to win this.’’

Sunday’s Semifinals

Bryce Ledford d. Pat Corey, 5 and 4
Greg Privette d. Chase Deck, 2 and 1

Sunday’s Final

Ledford d. Privette, 1-up

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)