A 17 under par total clinches Rollins victory
Mon August 10th 2009
Playing the last day with Ryan Palmer (Texas neighbour and family friend), John Rollins moves to world number 61 with year to date earnings of over $2 million after winning the Legends Reno Tahoe Open with a 17 under par total including a tremendous second round 62.
Rollins said "It was a hang-on kind of day, I had to battle a lot of emotions." Rollins sank an 18-foot birdie putt on the second hole, but he double bogeyed the par-5 fourth after he had to take a penalty stroke for an unplayable lie in the right rough off the tee.
He chipped within 3 feet from 44 yards out on the 616-yard, par-5 fifth and made the birdie putt to make the turn at 36.
On the 584-yard 11th, he drove 351 yards down the right side of the fairway, hit his approach 212 yards to just short of the green and chipped in from nearly 40 feet to get to 19 under.
"Once that happened you kind of feel like, `Well now, we're OK. Let's settle down and let's finish this thing off," Rollins said.
Rollins won the 2002 Canadian Open and 2006 B.C. Open and was the runner-up earlier this year at the Buick Invitational and Honda Classic. The $540,000 winner's check pushed his season earnings beyond the $2 million mark for a tour career total of more than $12 million.
Rollins plays a Srixon Z-Star golf ball.