Andrew Putnam Wins Web.com Tour Event In Panama
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2017-02-20
(Photo/PGA TOUR)
PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — Andrew Putnam won the Panama Claro Championship for his second Web.com Tour title, beating Chris Baker with an 18-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff.
Putnam closed with a 2-under 68 to match Baker (66) at 13-under 267 at Panama Golf Club.
The 28-year-old former Pepperdine player earned $112,500 to take the money lead with $171,100. The top 25 at the end of the regular season will earn PGA Tour cards for next season.
After the winning putt, Putnam was greeted by girlfriend Tawny. She had a feeling Putnam was going to close strong and flew all day to get to Panama City to surprise him.
“I just had no idea she would ever do that,” Putnam said. “That’s awesome for me to make the winning putt and for her to fly down here not knowing if I was going to win.”
He won on the par-4 18th with his only birdie of the week on the hole
“I’ve played this hole probably 15 to 20 times in my career so I know what to do,” Putnam said. “The second shot wasn’t the easiest with the ball below my feet. ... I felt like it was going to squirt right a little bit. I kind of got lucky that it grabbed part of the green and I made a pretty good putt.”
Putnam also won the 2014 WNB Golf Classic. He finished in the top 11 in his first three starts this season, tying for eighth and 11th in the Bahamas and finishing fifth last week in Colombia.
Sam Ryder (68) was two strokes back, Abraham Ancer (67) followed at 9 under, and Conrad Shindler (65), Jonathan Byrd (66) and Keith Mitchell (66) were 8 under.