Rochester, N.Y. – Former Kent Denver standout Kevin Stadler shot a 5-under-par 65 on Sunday and won the Xerox Classic on the Nationwide Tour by one stroke when Glen Day made a double bogey on the final hole.
Stadler, son of PGA Tour veteran Craig Stadler, finished at 9-under 271, but Day was trying to hold a one-stroke lead on the 18th hole.
Day, who played on the PGA Tour for 12 years, hooked his tee shot into the heavy rough on the uphill, 478-yard hole and crisscrossed the fairway twice before eventually missing a 4-foot putt for bogey. Stadler earned $103,500 and his third career Nationwide Tour victory.
“It was out of my control at that point,” Stadler said of his 45-minute wait. “I was fully expecting a playoff. It’s not the way you want it to end. It’s hard watching the tournament finish like that. At the same time, I really didn’t want to go out and warm up again. I played great today and it feels kind of deserved, but you don’t want to back into it.”
Stadler began the day three strokes behind 54-hole leader Steve Collins (76-279) and moved into contention by playing nearly flawless golf on a day when most of the leaders struggled.
“It was anyone’s game out there,” said Stadler, an admitted scoreboard watcher. “You could tell it was going to be like that all week. Anyone who made the cut had a chance. It’s a lot better than knowing you have no shot and you still have to shoot lights out just to make a decent check.”
The afternoon eventually turned into a two-man battle between Day and Craig Stadler’s eldest son. Kevin, in fact, was accidentally introduced as Craig on the first tee Sunday.
“I had some squirrelly thoughts running through my head as I was standing over my tee shot,” said the winner. “I’d eventually like to work my way out of that, but it’s a pretty large shadow to be in.”
Stadler, who has struggled since winning the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia back in February, put together his finest effort in months, hitting 12-of-14 fairways and 17-of-18 greens on the Donald Ross-designed layout.
“Earlier in the week I didn’t hit it very good and haven’t felt comfortable over it,” he said. “I hit a lot of good shots on the first few holes and got settled in there. I got locked in there and felt like I could pull off the shots I wanted to hit.”
Stadler kept hitting his iron shots close, but wound up missing six birdie putts between 4 and 15 feet during a seven-hole stretch that ended with a missed 8-footer on No. 10.
“I had an opportunity to put up a really low score on the front nine, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “Fortunately I didn’t let it get to me. I’ve been playing the back nine great all week, so I was hoping to get a couple back.”
