The 38-year old Heinen began Sunday's final round of the 2008 Open at Larchmont Golf Course with a seemingly comfortable four-stroke lead over Griffith, a University of Montana graduate who lives in Tucson, Ariz. However, by the time the final foursome made the turn, Griffith and Heinen were deadlocked at 17-under par after Griffith scorched the front nine to the tune of a 6-under 30.
But Heinen won the battle over the final nine holes, finishing with a 67 as the Coeur d'Alene native captured his first Montana Open title. His three-day scorecard read 65-64-67-196, a tournament record of 20-under. Travis Long held the previous tourney mark with his 197 in 2004 in the second of his two Open championships.
But his two-stroke victory came at the expense of Griffith, who finished two strokes back. It was the fifth time Griffith has finished the Open standing on the podium's second tier.
“This event, every year it seems like the scores get lower and lower,” said Griffith, who missed his chance for his first Montana Open title by falling in playoffs in both 1994 and 2005. “So to go out this morning and play the way I did on the front nine was just awesome.”
Defending champion Michael Combs of Kennewick, Wash., tied for third with Jeff Tachell, Snoqualmie, Wash., at 203, while amateur champion Adam Hober of Missoula finished at 204, even with Kalispell's Ryan Malby in fifth.
But the story of the morning was Griffith, who birdied the first hole before going eagle- birdie on Nos. 4 and 5. By posting his third birdie of the day at the eighth, Griffith had drawn even at the top of the leaderboard.
After twice gaining a one-stroke advantage and letting it slip away over the first four holes of the back nine, a bogey by Griffith at the 14th was all the wiggle room Heinen needed. He maintained his one-shot lead entering the par-4 18th. Though Heinen's tee shot was the farthest from the pin in the foursome, his approach sealed the victory.
From just over 100 yards away, Heinen stuck his second shot just 2fi feet from the hole and his tap-in for birdie capped the three-day event.
“On that second shot I had a great number,” Heinen said. “It was like 104 (yards) to the pin and I hit that club 105. So that made it real easy to swing freely and put it away.”
Chip-ins: Malby, the head professional at Village Greens in Kalispell, is just one of two Montanans to have won the event since '84... Missoula Country Club champion Hober carded the second-lowest round of the day with a 66. Barry Walters, who shot in the low 70s on the first two days, matched Heinen and Tachell at 67... Brad Solander of Missoula, who won the Blevins Cup as the low amateur three of the last five years, took second, finishing two strokes back of Hober.
Scores Sunday after the final round of the 54-hole Montana Open, played at par-36-36 72, 6,688-yard Larchmont Golf Course (a-denotes amateur):
Eddie Heinen, Coeur d'Alene 65-64-67-196
Glen Griffith, Tucson, Ariz. 66-67-65-198
Michael Combs, Kenniwick, Wash. 68-67-68-203
Jeff Tachell, Snowqualmie, Wash. 69-67-67-203
a-Adam Hober, Missoula 68-70-66-204
Ryan Malby, Kalispell 67-67-70-204
Trevor Fox, Coeur d'Alene 68-67-70-205
a-Brad Solander, Missoula 70-67-69-206
Kyle Cianflone, Hamilton 65-72-70-207
Travis Long, Henderson, Nev. 67-69-72-208
Ben Kreger, Anthem, Ariz. 68-69-72-209
R. Buckenberger, Post Falls, Idaho 70-70-70-210
Tim McElhinny, Spokane Valley 68-72-70-210
Kyle Mittlestadt, Missoula 71-69-70-210
Barry Walters, Yakima, Wash. 72-71-67-210
Larry Barber, Seattle 69-67-75-211
David Owens, Missoula 68-73-70-211
David Uyehara, Las Vegas 69-70-72-211
Mike Hamblin, Twin Falls, Idaho 73-71-68-212
Craig Schuh, Deer Park, Wash 71-68-75-214
a-Don Conyers, LaQuinta, Calif. 72-65-78-215
a-Jay Guittard, San Leandro, Calif. 70-73-72-215
Jason Lehtola, Hamilton 71-71-73-215
Patrick Duty, Las Vegas 75-71-70-216
Mike Kasch, Kenniwick, Wash. 73-72-71-216
a-Gary Koprivica, Missoula 70-69-77-216
Jess Roper, Kalispell 73-73-70-216
Adam Syverson, Spokane 69-74-73-216
Justin Ellis, Mountain Home, Idaho 70-77-70-217
Brad Forbis, Cut Bank 68-76-73-217
Gary Knapp, Las Vegas 71-73-73-217
T. Sanderson, Sun Valley, Idaho 71-73-74-218
Buster Whitney, Caldwell, Idaho 66-78-74-218
a-Travis Williams, Missoula 69-73-76-218
Gene Edstrom, Hamilton 75-72-72-219
a-Bib Gray, Missoula 71-71-77-219
Curtis Starkey, Douglas, Wyo. 76-69-75-220
a-John Beutle, Coeur d'Alene 73-76-72-221
a-Tony Hanna, Post Falls, Idaho 76-74-71-221
Tod Fitterer, Butte 76-74-72-222
a-Rick Rimers, Missoula 77-75-70-222
Tony Beck, Pasco, Wash. 79-73-71-223
Jason Nistler, Polson 73-77-73-223
Connor Sproull, Missoula 73-73-77-223
Chris Galiher, Missoula 73-70-81-224
a-Jeff Swonson, Missoula 75-75-78-228
Rob Ellis, Mountain Home, Idaho 72-79-78-229
a-Gary Funston, Stevensville 74-77-78-229
a-Kevin O'Day, Missoula 78-75-76-229
Rick Spurgeon, Missoula 73-77-80-230
Dudley Beard, Great Falls 80-74-77-231
a-B.Dougdale, Hayden Lake, Idaho 78-74-79-231
Troy Vitek, Gooding, Idaho 79-76-76-231
a-Mike Welling, Hayden Lake, Idaho 75-80-76-231
a-Bob Anderson, Missoula 76-72-84-232
a-Rod Pfister, LaQuinta, Calif. 79-79-74-232
Scott Longenecker, Helena 75-78-80-233
Tim Bakker, Missoula 76-8078-234
a-Jim Green, Hayden Lake, Idaho 78-78-78-234
a-S.Stephens, Dalton Garden, Idaho 74-72-78-234
John Watson, Caldwell, Idaho 75-80-79-234
Richard Wright, Edmonton, Alb. 80-75-79-234
a-Ben Focke, Coeur d'Alene 80-87-80-235
a-Jim McGee, Dalton Garden, Idaho 78-77-80-235
a-Mark Nord, Missoula 79-78-78-235
a-Yo Shuin, Kingston, Wash. 81-80-74-235
Jeffrey Taylor, Eagle, Idaho 82-76-77-235
a-Dave Stengel, Missoula 81-77-78-236
a-Padraig Barron, Missoula 81-78-78-237
a-Seth Enes, Missoula 83-74-80-237
a-Mike Palmer, Manson, Wash. 79-80-78- 237
Kirk Wasson, Gillette, Wyo. 76-77-84-237
a-Jim Wheatley, Missoula 76-84-77-237
a-Thomas Ratkovich, Spokane 79-78-81-238
a-Bryan Flaig, Missoula 81-81-77-239
a-Michael Samuels, Gillette, Wyo. 82-79-78-239
Marco Stevanoni, Salt Lake City 83-78-78-239
a-Bill Widaman, Fort Benton 81-76-82-239
a-Jeff Howard, Missoula 77-80-83-240
a-Jeff Nord, Missoula 79-84-77-240
Chris Carpenter, Naples, Fla. 79-78-84-241
Marv Clover, Frenchtown 82-81-78-241
a-Bob Cummins, Missoula 78-81-82-241
a-Tom Lind, Missoula 79-81-81-241
a-Mike Spurgeon, Great Falls 79-77-86-242
John Weeks, Buhl, Idaho 86-79-77-242
a-Rob Loran, Missoula 83-77-73-243
a-Scott Newson, Gillette, Wyo. 79-81-85-245
a-Rusty Peterson, Riggins, Idaho 88-78-79-245
a-Chuck Beagle, Missoula 77-86-83-246
a-Gene Burns, Missoula 79-80-87-246
Eric Driessen, Bothel, Wash. 82-79-85-246
a-Troy Rausch, Missoula 82-85-80-247
a-Cliff Boyd, Missoula 81-83-84-248
a-Trent Holstein, Glasgow 82-85-81-248
a-Kenny Rogers, Gillette, Wyo. 84-84-80-248
a-Peter Tucker, Missoula 80-81-87-248
a-Joe Fernau, Casper, Wyo. 84-83-82-249
a-Duane Larson, Missoula 79-80-90-249
Don Lewis, Penticon, BC 84-86-79-249
a-Shad Ockler, Frenchtown 79-84-86-249
a-Robert Pearson, Gillette, Woy. 81-88-80-249
Dam Smith, Lake Stevens, Wash. 80-80-89-249
a-Dave Chapman, Coeur d'Alene 78-85-87-250
a-Gordon Holmquist, Chelan, Wash. 86-82-82-250
a-Richard Skattum, Issaquah, Wash. 86-79-85-250
a-Cliff Walker, Missoula 81-84-85-250
Joe Kost, Maricopa, Ariz. 85-78-88-251
a-Pete Ridgeway, Missoula 86-80-85-251
a-Rod Gabriel, Missoula 81-86-85-252
a-Paul Daugharty, Coeur d'Alene 80-86-87-253
Scott Galbraith, Enumclaw, wash. 83-91-79-253
a-Tim Barrow, Missoula 82-81-92-255
a-Gary Campbell, Missoula 84-84-87-255
a-Jay Erickson, Missoula 86-86-85-257
a-Joe Proctor, Missoula 88-84-85-257
a-Jack Joseph, Missoula 84-87-87-258
a-Shaun LaLonde, Missoula 81-90-89-260
a-Duane Mittlestadt, Missoula 87-89-84-260
a-Scott Markle, Glasgow 90-84-87-261
a-Will Deschamps, Missoula 83-94-85-262
a-Rick Snowden, Missoula 86-90-87-263
a-Jerry Besel, Yakima, Wash. 84-92-89-265
a-Brent Harshbarger, Missoula 84-90-91-265
a-Chris Hogan, Gillette, Wyo. 84-94-87-265
a-John Evans, Missoula 90-90-86-266
a-Lou Brannon, Vancouver, Wash. 87-89-91-267
a-James Smereck, Great Falls 88-89-90-267
a-Neale Stuart, Missoula 92-87-89-268
a-Dan Anderson, Kalispell 88-94-89-271
a-Tom Wheatley Sr., Missoula 95-86-90-271
a-Tom Wheatley Jr., Missoula 90-85-96-271
a-Brian Fogerty, Missoula 91-92-91-274
a-Max Good, Missoula 92-97-88-277
a-Paul Blakesley, Missoula 93-97-90-280
a-Brad Wasson, Gillette, Wyo. 92-91-100-283
a-Ray Wilson, Missoula 95-96-94-285
a-Joel Hefty, Frenchtown 97-100-97-294
a-Gary Trenary, Huson 95-100-100-295
a-Jim Bice, Missoula 95-107-94-296
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