Miller wins Dalhousie's MGA event in playoff

~ The Eldon, Mo., golfer won the Missouri Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

As far as Matt Miller was concerned, 40 holes of golf Thursday at Dalhousie Golf Club might have been one hole too many.

After playing 36 holes on the final day of the Missouri Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Miller needed three playoff holes to turn back Brad Nurski for his first Missouri Golf Association title.

Miller, a 20-year-old who plays collegiately at Central Missouri State University, rolled in a 6-foot birdie putt on the par 4, 458-yard No. 3 to clinch the championship.

By ending the playoff on the third hole, Miller avoided another encounter with No. 4, a hole he had posted a quadruple-bogey eight during the final round of regulation.

Matt Miller of Eldon, Mo., putts on the third green Thursday during the Missouri Stroke Play Championship at Dalhousie. (Elizabeth Dodd)

Miller, a high school state champion his senior year at Eldon High School and the reigning MIAA Conference champion, held a two-shot advantage entering Thursday's final two rounds and a four-stroke lead over William Harrold entering the afternoon's final 18 holes. Nurski was another shot back with first-round leader Joe Ida entering the final 18 holes.

The lead didn't hold up long, which made for an interesting finish.

"I threw it all away after four holes," Miller said. "I figured I was all square with whoever was behind me."

While Miller lost his lead, he was able to restore a two-shot advantage on the back nine. Bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 left Miller needing a birdie on the par 5 18th to win. When his 10-foot birdie putt slid right of the hole, Miller found himself needing to win a playoff with Nurski, a 30-year-old player from St. Joseph, Mo., who had birdied the final hole.

Both players had 3-over-par 291 totals for the tournament, which was one shot ahead of third-place finisher Nick Wilson of Rocheport, Mo.

Todd Obergoenner of Cape Girardeau was the top local finisher. Obergoenner, who started the day seven shots off the lead, had rounds of 3-over-par 75 and 72 to finish sixth, four shots off the lead.

Obergoenner saw his hopes end with a triple-bogey on the par 3 13th in the final round.

"Overall I can't complain," Obergoenner said. "I played solid."

Obergoenner, a 2004 graduate of Central, also was happy he didn't have to travel across the state like many of the other competitors.

"I never get a chance to play in a tournament like this and sleep in my own bed," Obergoenner said. "As a junior, I got to play in some one-day, two-day stuff around here, but never bigger tournaments. We're not used to that kind of thing, where now that Dalhousie has gotten a bigger name and people recognize how good it is, we're getting bigger tournaments. It's nice to be in your own backyard and get to play in a tournament of this caliber."

Cape Girardeau golfers filled the next three spots, as Brevin Giebler placed seventh (81-70-75-70--296), Blake Driskell (75-70-76-76--297) finished eighth and Bryan Johnson (74-74-77-73--298) tied for ninth.

Driskell, a 2006 graduate of Central and a teammate of Obergoenner's at SIU-Carbondale, started the day three shots off the lead and finished six back after going 8-over-par in Thursday's 36 holes.

"I struck the ball really, really well," Driskell said. "My tee shots went well, irons and approach shots were very solid. I just putted really bad. It's extremely frustrating."

Miller remained positive after his bogey-bogey-par finish.

"I've been hitting it off the tee so well today, all day today I missed one fairway -- all 39 holes," Miller said. "I hit it in the water on No. 10. I knew just give myself chances in the fairway, that I would have chances to get it on. Because I was hitting the ball solid. Just keep giving myself chances, I knew I would capitalize eventually."

Both players settled for pars on the first two playoff holes, narrowly missing birdie putts.

The stalemate shifted Miller's way on No. 3. After Nurski sent his approach shot into the front bunker, Miller dropped a 9-iron from 150 yards six feet from the pin. Miller simply had to two-putt after Nurski failed to get up and down, making bogey five.

"This is the next step, because I won state and I won our conference championship," Miller said. "I think this is the next step to getting me where I want to be. My dream is playing on the PGA Tour one day. I know it's a long way away, but if I keep taking baby steps like this and keep getting better and better, then that's all I can ask for."

Nurski was left staring at a 6 1/2-hour drive back to St. Joseph.

"I battled all week," Nurski said. "The first day, I played in the rain all day, the wind and all that good stuff."

It was his fourth runner-up finish in an MGA event.

"I'll be due one of these times, I hope," Nurski said.