Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 28, 1993 TAG: 9306280100
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
When the former pro from Bluefield, Va., blasted out of the sand trap behind the green on the 392-yard, par-4 finishing hole at the Blacksburg Country Club, he had left himself a 15-foot par putt.
Then defending champion Dicky Linkous of Roanoke forced Krulich to make the putt by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt to trail by only one stroke.
"I knew he was going to make it," said Krulich, who regained his amateur status three years ago. "I got myself ready to make the putt. I told myself this was my chance. I didn't want to go into sudden death with Dicky. He's too tough. So this was the first hole of the playoffs for me. And if I sank the putt, it was all over."
The par putt gave Krulich a bogey-free final round 68 and a two-day total of 138, six strokes under par, on the par-72, 6,685-yard course.
Linkous' birdie putt gave him a final-round 68 also and he finished at 139 - three strokes better than his winning score last year. It was the first time since the 10th hole that a putt fell for the defending champion.
"I was hitting good putts so when I went to putt [on 18] I had confidence," said Linkous, who was the lowest-scoring professional in the tournament. "There were two or three times [on the back nine] that the putts just lipped out. And on the 14th hole, the putt went to the bottom of the cup and then came out."
Krulich's scrambling on the 18th hole marked the third time in the final round he managed to avoid a bogey. The most dramatic escape came on No. 15. Leading by one shot, Krulich's tee shot on the 202-yard par-3 fell into the high grass between the green and the bunker on the right. He calmly stepped into the sand trap and chipped the ball into the hole for a birdie 2.
Then Linkous missed an eight-foot putt for birdie and the lead was two strokes with three holes to play.
"I thought Dicky would make the putt and I would get up-and-down in two and we'd be tied," Krulich said. "When it went in, it went in dead center perfect. Something like that is hard to come back from."
Linkous called it a turning point in the tournament.
Krulich's other recovery came on the 6th hole, a 372-yard, par 4. His approach shot was long but he chipped close and made a 10-foot par putt. Krulich said that hole gave him confidence in his short game that he maintained the rest of the day.
No one else in the 104-man field finished under par.
First-day leader Danny Hopkins of Salem shot a final-round 78, faltering on the back nine. Hopkins was 6-under-par after two holes and was tied with Krulich and Linkous after nine holes at 4-under.
"As we went to the 10th tee, I felt good," Hopkins said. "Then my approach shot on No. 10 runs long and I hit a bad second shot on No. 12. After that, I was playing catch-up. And when you play catch up, you usually end up farther behind."
Hopkins, Radford's Steve Roberson and Roanoke's Tim Chocklett finished tied at 145. After matching scorecards, Chocklett got third place, Roberson fourth and Hopkins fifth.
by CNB