Make room, Dave Hill, Bill Loeffler and Brian Guetz. You too, Bill Bisdorf and Jim Blair.
Derek Tolan has joined the club.
In winning the HealthOne Colorado Open for the second time in four years on Sunday, the Highlands Ranch resident becomes just the sixth golfer to have captured the tournament title more than once.
And Tolan did it in a fashion that would make his “two or more club” cohorts proud. The former University of Colorado golfer rallied from a five-stroke final-round deficit to prevail by one at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.
In fact, Tolan (pictured with his trophy) sealed the deal despite trailing by four with six holes to play.
“I’m pretty excited about it — maybe a little more excited than I was last time in all honesty,” the 26-year-old said after a $23,000 payday. “I needed something like this to kind of keep me going. I’ve been playing well, but I haven’t really been doing anything with it. Winning, especially in a tournament I care so much about, means a lot. … I was just feeling like I needed something big to happen.”
That “something” was a bogey-free 6-under-par 65 in the final round. He birdied three of his final six holes — including a 5-footer on No. 18 — to do the improbable. His 14-under-par 270 total was one shot better than Arvada’s Zahkai Brown, who took a three-stroke lead into the day.
Brown, a rookie professional and former Colorado State University golfer, was bogey-free through 11 holes Sunday, but he made four bogeys down the stretch and opened the door for Tolan. And two of those bogeys came when Brown (pictured at left) missed putts inside of 5 feet.
“You’ve got to keep playing well if you want to win, and I just didn’t play as well as I had been the first three rounds,” said Brown, who tied the course record with a 63 on Saturday.
Brown birdied the 16th hole to regain a share of the lead, but dropped out of the top spot for good when he three-putted No. 17 for bogey from 40 feet. After Tolan, who was a group ahead, rolled in his 5-foot birdie putt on 18, Brown trailed by two going into the final hole.
After being in a similar spot as Tolan after two shots on the par-5, Brown failed to pitch in for eagle to force a playoff. Instead, he had to settle for an 8-foot birdie, which left him with an even-par 71 Sunday and a 271 total.
With Coloradans finishing 1-2, James Drew of Las Vegas Nev. (67 Sunday) and Dustin Pimm of Sandy Utah (68) tied for third place at 273. Michael Baird, a former CU teammate of Tolan’s, shared fifth place at 274 after shooting a 65 despite a double bogey on the final hole. Nick Mason of Denver also was among those tied for fifth, having shot 65-65 on the weekend.
Tolan (pictured at left) figured he might need a final-round 64 to overtake Brown, and he wasn’t far from wrong.
“The wind started picking up pretty good on the back nine,” Tolan said. “I told my caddie I wanted it to because there are so many demanding shots out there. There’s so much that can happen, especially if the wind starts blowing. So luckily it picked up a little, and I hit some really good shots.”
Brown can take consolation in his biggest paycheck yet in his two-month-old professional golf career ($13,500). But he realizes that big leads can evaporate quickly in golf. Last year, he was on the other end of such a scenario when he came back from six down in the final round to win the CGA Stroke Play Championship.
“I played well in the third round (of the Colorado Open) just to get into this situation,” said the 2011 CGA amateur Player of the Year. “I played really well (overall for the week). I’ll handle the situation and learn from it.”
While Brown will have to wait for his breakthrough win professionally, Tolan was only too happy to get back into the victory column.
“I’ve been doing some good stuff, but nothing kind of breakthrough-ish or something I was really, really happy about,” he said. “This actually makes me feel pretty good.”
Ex-CU golfers have won eight of the last 24 Colorado Opens and four of the last six, but Tolan becomes the first ex-Buff to claim the title twice.
Kupcho Earns Low-Amateur Honors: Steven Kupcho of Westminster, the 36-hole tournament leader, claimed low-amateur honors by three strokes on Sunday. The University of Northern Colorado golfer (pictured at left) closed with a 73 and posted a 6-under-par 278 total, good for 18th place overall.
“It’s obviously an honor,” he said of the amateur award. “It feels great. Even though I didn’t do what I wanted to do this weekend, I still put together a good tournament, so I’m pretty happy about it overall.”
Michael Schoolcraft of Englewood and CU golfer Jason Burstyn tied for second-best among the amateurs after both shot 71 Sunday for 281 totals.
Notable: Sixty-year-old R.W. Eaks, winner of the 2011 HealthOne Colorado Senior Open, shot 66-66 on the weekend to finish 11th at 8-under-par 276. … 2011 Colorado Open winner Ben Portie placed 56th this year with a 4-over-par 288 total. … While Zahkai Brown was disappointed in not winning Sunday, it was a strong week overall for the Brown brothers, with Zahkai taking second place and older sibling Zen placing 12th. … When Tolan won the Open in 2009, his winning score was 22 under par, eight strokes better than this year. … Sunday’s win gives Tolan exemptions into the Canadian Tour’s Great Waterway Classic in Ontario Sept. 6-9, along with this coming week’s Texas State Open. However, Tolan said he will try to qualify Monday for the PGA Tour’s Reno-Tahoe Open.
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