Stewart Jolly wins Future Masters in three-hole playoff

Before a golfer can win a playoff, he has to get there.

Stewart Jolly and Brett Patterson put on a show during the final round of the 60th Press Thornton Future Masters at Dothan Country Club on Saturday.
Patterson, from McMinnville, Tenn., made five birdies in the first 10 holes and shot a 3-under-par 67 — tied for the day’s best round.

Jolly, from Birmingham, made an improbable par save on the final hole to keep his title hopes alive. Both completed the 54 holes in 2-under-par 208.

Three pressure-packed, sudden-death holes later, Jolly captured the prestigious championship with a par on the par-3 13th hole.

“The whole day was awesome,” said Jolly, who led the tournament after each of the first two days. “I got into some trouble early, but I played really good from
then on.”

Patterson trailed Jolly by five shots at the start of the final round.

“I thought I had to shoot 65,” he said. “And I probably should have. I knew I was on fire.”

He birdied Nos. 3, 4, 7 and 8 to turn in 4-under 31. He started the back nine with a birdie on No. 10 to go 5-under. At that point, he led the tournament by two
shots.

Jolly, playing one group behind Patterson, saw the lead slip away on the front side.

“I kind of made a few mistakes early,” he said. “I hit my drive into the hazard on No. 4 but made par. On 5 I hit into the water and made double (bogey). I short-
sided myself on No. 6 and made bogey there to go 3-over.”

He looked at the scoreboard at the turn.

“I knew I needed to shoot a couple under on the back, maybe two or three,” said Jolly, who will be a junior at Mountain Brook High this fall.

He birdied 10, missed a four-footer for birdie on 13 and birdied 14 to pull within one shot.

Both golfers bogeyed No. 15 and Patterson came to the final hole with a one-shot lead.

His drive went a bit right and trees blocked his line to the green.

“I had 133 yards. I tried to cut a pitching wedge around a tree,” he said. “It caught a limb and came up 80 yards short.”

From there, he hit a fine pitch into the green, but missed a tough 12-footer for par.

Jolly said he was unaware of Patterson’s bogey.

“I thought I needed to birdie 18 to get into a playoff,” he said.

But his tee shot found the right bunker. He tried to hit a 6-iron out of the trap and over a tree to the green.

“It came out low and hit the tree,” he said. “I got lucky that it dropped straight down in the fairway. That was big.”

He had just under 95 yards and hit a lob wedge to 10 feet. He still didn’t know Patterson had bogeyed and that he had to make the putt to get into a playoff.

“It’s probably better that I didn’t know,” he said later. “I would have been more nervous.”

The putt was sliding to his right, but caught enough of the right side of the hole to fall.

For the second year in a row, the Future Masters went to a playoff.

One of Patterson’s playing partners, Major Lee of Montgomery, shot a 68 and finished one stroke out of the playoff at 1-under-par 209.

“It kind of puts a damper on it to lose by one, but I played well today,” said Lee, who fought back from a double-bogey 6 at No. 2. “I made some good par putts
coming in. I wasn’t missing birdie putts.”

Tyler Klava of Pace, Fla., who shot a 74, was fourth at 3-over-par 213. David Gannon (70) of Dothan was fifth, tied with Joseph Webster (71) of Trussville,
Fletcher Johnson (73) of Belden, Miss., and Charles Silverfield (74) of Tampa, Fla.

“It helped to play with Brett,” Lee said. “I think we fed off each other’s momentum. We kept playing good all day. He made a good putt on last hole to save
bogey and went to the playoff.”

In sudden death, Patterson and Jolly both made solid pars on No. 18. They moved on to No. 1. Jolly chunked a 25-yard chip into the green. Patterson had a 10-
foot birdie putt for the victory. Neither player could believe he missed.

“I hit it right were I wanted,” Patterson said. “It was uphill, right to left. I thought I drained it.”

“It looked good the whole way,” Jolly said. “It just broke out of the hole.”

Patterson appeared to have the upper hand as his tee shot on the par-3 13th hole soared toward the green and never left the flag.

“It was tracking at the pin,” Jolly said. “Honestly, I thought it might have been a hole-in-one. It was right on the pin.”

And yet, when the ball landed, there was no noise from the spectators. The back right portion of the green isn’t visible from the tee.

“Nobody’s clapping?” Patterson said to tournament director Kevin Klein.

“Tough crowd,” Klein replied.

Actually, the ball landed just short of the pin but jumped hard on the sun-baked green. The shot didn’t hold and settled into the short grass five yards over the
green.

Jolly didn’t know that as he attempted to hit.

“I thought I had to make birdie,” he said.

His 6-iron started right but drew in. It also landed on the green and jumped, but caught the fringe.

Patterson’s chip carried too far and ran 12 feet past the hole. Jolly’s birdie putt stopped inches short, and he tapped in for par.

Patterson’s par putt just missed the hole. That meant Jolly, whose first-round 65 was the best of the tournament, is the 60th Future Masters champion.

“It gives me a lot of confidence in my game,” Jolly said.

The son of Ralph and Connie Jolly, who survived the playoff, too, plays at Vestavia Hills Country Club.