LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — William Mouw overcame a seven-stroke deficit Sunday to win the ISCO Championship for his first PGA Tour title, shooting a 9-under 61 and waiting nearly two hours to see if his 10-under 270 total would hold up.
Mouw won when third-round leader Paul Peterson — who was playing the 10th hole at Hurstbourne Country Club when Mouw finished — missed a 55-foot birdie try from the front fringe on the par-4 18th.
“I was mentally ready for a playoff, and if it came to that, I was ready,” Mouw said. “But that wasn’t the case and I’m just blessed to be the winner.”
Mouw won in his 20th start on the PGA Tour. The 24-year-old former Pepperdine player received a two-year exemption and a PGA Championship spot next year, but not a spot in the Masters.
“I have job status for two more years and I get to use that to play some really good golf and try to win another golf tournament,” Mouw said. “But as my life, it doesn’t change my life very much.”
Peterson shot a 69 to finish a stroke back in the opposite-field PGA Tour event also sanctioned by the European tour.
Mouw birdied the first three holes and added two more on Nos. 7-8 in a front-nine 30. He birdied Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 17 on the back nine in the lowest score in his brief PGA Tour career. He's the third rookie to win this season, following Karl Vilips in the Puerto Rico Open and Aldrich Potgieter at the Rocket Classic.
“I knew that if everything clicked and I did the right things, I could go pretty low. I’m just thrilled that it happened.”
The 37-year-old Peterson, also making his 20th career PGA Tour start, made a 24-foot birdie putt on 14 and a 30-footer on 16, then parred the final two holes.
“It’s tough to come up one short, but I played some good golf this week,” Peterson said. “Thought that was a pretty fiery, good test and I felt like I handled myself and my emotions really well.”
European tour player Manuel Elvira was third at 7 under at 66, and Kentucky native Vince Whaley (70) and David Skinns (70) followed at 6 under.
Auburn junior Jackson Koivun had a 68 to tie for sixth at 5 under. He tied for 11th last week in the John Deere Classic.
Chan Kim, five strokes ahead after opening rounds of 61 and 68, had weekend rounds of 75 and 73 to tie for 14th at 3 under.
Peterson and Kim were among the 12 players who finished the suspended third round Sunday morning,
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The Associated Press
