Matt Rawitzer (right) shot a superb six-under 66 at Wine Valley yesterday to complete the 54 holes of the 110th Northwest Open on eight-under 206 and tied for second place. At the start of the day, it had been Lake Padden's Luke Bennett and Matt Cowell that looked set to contend, but it was the recent Oregon State grad that impressed the most, shooting the round of the tournament and finishing low amateur. "I expected to play well, as I usually do," says Rawitzer. "I knew all I needed to do to shoot a really good score was hole some more putts than I had in the previous couple of rounds."
Rawitzer's long game was in fine shape following a visit last week with his coach Craig Welty, a fact he displayed with a double-eagle at the 625-yard 7th in Monday's opening round. "I hit a hybrid from 285 yards," he says. "I had never made a two on a Par 5 before, so that was really cool." At the end of September, Rawitzer will head to Portugal for European Tour qualifying until when he'll be practicing hard and focusing on his short game in particular.
Cowell shot a three-under 69 to finish tied for fifth on six-under 210, while Bennett who shared the lead after an opening 67, finished with a 72 for 213 and a tie for 16th.
Western's Kyle Schrader came in T33 after closing with an excellent 68, and Mark Strickland had a 70 to finish tied for 51st on 221.
Olympia's Shane Prante took the title, finishing on 14-under 202 to win by six shots.
Results here.
