Moyers repeats with playoff win at Greene

STANARDSVILLE — Mikey Moyers arrived at his home golf course for Sunday’s final round of the Greene Hills Invitational with the hope of validating his victory in 2007 in front of his close friends and family. When all was said and done, Moyers accomplished that in a sudden death playoff and walked away with this year’s hardware.
“It feels great, it feels as good as it did last time,” Moyers said. “It was a much harder field this year obviously, because the scores were lower, so this win actually felt a lot better. Somehow I handled the pressure.”
Heading into Sunday’s round, Moyers found himself tied with Jon Hurst and Nick Little for the lead at 3-under par, and led the way at the turn with a score of 5-under. Hurst was right on his heels at 4-under, and Little, who was seeking his first title at Greene Hills, struggled on Sunday, as several putts lipped out on him.
“I definitely hit the ball well enough to at least contend, but my putter let me down,” said Little, who finished third with a 71 on Sunday.
Moyers saw Hurst bogey the 10th hole, which gave him a bit of breathing room, but the 39-year old bounced back with three consecutive birdies on the next three holes and led Moyers by a stroke through 13.
Moyers birdied the 14th, but gave a stroke right back with a bogey on 15. On the 16th, the pressure began to mount. Hurst was in position to birdie and take charge with about a 10-foot putt, but it burned the edge of the cup. That opened the door for Moyers to tie again with two holes to go, and the William Monroe senior delivered, sinking a 30-foot birdie.
“When I first hit that putt, I didn’t think it was going to get there,” admitted Moyers, “and then about six inches from the hole, it looked perfect. Then I was walking it in, and the ball changed course and went all the way around the hole and then dropped in. So, my heart almost stopped on that putt.”
After pars by both co-leaders at 17 and 18, they finished the round with the same scores from Saturday, 68 apiece. The stage was set for a playoff, which started at the 10th hole, the same 10th hole that gave Hurst fits earlier in the day. If that wasn’t enough for Hurst to think about, the wind kicked up as they closed our the second 18 of the tournament.
“I bogeyed the hole earlier and the wind was really howling,” Hurst said. “My drive didn’t go nearly as far as I thought it would have, and left me a little downhill, side-hill lie, so that made my second shot a little tricky.”
Hurst hit his second shot wide and wound up on the fringe and Moyers took control, leaving his 135-yard approach shot about 10 feet from the flag.
Hurst left his third shot short by less than a foot, and Moyers knew what he had to do.
“At that point I thought, now I’ve got a chance to make birdie to win,” he said. “Right when he hit his putt, I knew it was short. I definitely wanted to end it right there so I didn’t give him another chance, because you don’t give good players second chances.”
Moyers stepped up and sank the putt to seal the win with several friends and family members in attendance.
“I figured par there wouldn’t have been a bad score with the way the hole was playing, but he birdied it and he deserved to win,” Hurst said.
The low round of the day and the tournament came from James River H.S. senior Nick Austin, who shot a 67. Austin, who will attend the University of Richmond in the fall, totaled six birdies on the day, and almost finished with a 66, but bogeyed the 18th. As a result, Austin jumped the second flight and ended up winning the first flight.
Chad Mozingo finished fourth overall after shooting a 69 on Sunday, and 141 for the tournament. Paul Kane had a 70 Sunday, good enough for a total of 142 and fifth place overall. Jim Higginbotham had the low round for a senior after registering a 69.