Will Davenport regroups in playoff, wins GAP Mid-Am title

For much of the final round of the Golf Association of Philadelphia Middle-Amateur Championship, Will Davenport focused much of his attention on Jeff Osberg, the two-time GAP player of the year who led Davenport by four shots Thursday with nine holes to play.

However, it turned out that Andrew Keeling, also playing in that final group with Davenport and Osberg, would become the biggest threat. Trailing by four strokes with two holes to play, Keeling went eagle-birdie at Rolling Green Golf Club to force a playoff, meaning Davenport had to find a way to refocus.

He did a pretty good job of it, making birdie on the first hole of the four-hole, aggregate score playoff to take the lead and holding on to win the 36th Middle-Amateur on a day that featured three delays for lightning that stopped play for more than two hours.

Davenport, 26, who is originally from Palm City, Fla., lives in Center City and attends the Wharton School at Penn, fired a 3-over-par 73 in his final round for a 140 total. Keeling, 27, the first-round leader with a 65, opened with a triple bogey and also had a double bogey on his card but fought back for a 75 to force the playoff. Davenport scored 17 in the playoff, winning by one.

Osberg, seeking to win the only GAP major that has eluded him, had a nightmarish back nine with his putter and shot a 78 to tie for ninth at 145.

“I didn’t realize [Keeling] was as close as he was because he got off to a slow start, and I felt like I was trying to catch Jeff the whole way around the golf course,” Davenport said. “I was really focused on what he was doing and Drew played a sneaky, rock-solid last 12 holes.”

The final threesome was on the 18th tee when the siren halted play. Keeling had bombed a drive just seconds before the signal. Davenport had to wait until after the delay was over and found the trees on the right, leading to a bogey, while Keeling made a 12-footer for birdie, and the tie.

“I didn’t realize he was nipping at my heels until I got in the clubhouse and I looked at the scoreboard and I thought, ‘Oh wow!’” Davenport said. “More power to him, a 3-3 finish out there. What can you do but tip your cap to that?”

Davenport, a member at Whitemarsh Valley, took the advantage on the first playoff hole, Rolling Green’s 15th, with an 8-foot birdie putt. Despite a 3-putt bogey on the par-3 16th, he grew his lead to two after a double bogey by Keeling, 27, of Kennett Square.

Keeling two-putted from off the green for birdie at the par-5 17th and walked up 18 trailing by one. Both players hit their tee shots to the left and had to negotiate some trees to get close to the green. Keeling hit the green and Davenport was short, chipping up to 15 feet away.

Keeling’s birdie putt ended up 10 feet short of the hole. After Davenport two-putted for a bogey, Keeling could not extend the playoff, watching his par putt burn the lower lip and stay out.

“I was really hoping for a top 15. I thought that would be awesome, that was my goal,” Keeling said, who called his 65 Wednesday “just an awesome day."

“It put myself in a position I wasn’t really familiar with. Today I was a little bit more nervous at the start but I felt like I handled myself really well.”