SMI News - Brown Bags Victory at PGA - South

May 9, 2007

After missing the first cut of the Beach Spring Series by three shots, 28 year-old Ted Brown got his act together. He notched four Top-10's and a T12 in his next five events, and this week in the final Spring Series event at the PGA Resort's South course, he shot rounds of 74/70/68-212 in difficult conditions to garner his first Gateway Tour victory over Tim Connors (73/72/68-213) at 4-under par. His victory was worth $11,000 and his act is, well, quite together to say the least.

"I think the difference this week was that I probably just eliminated the mistakes that I've been making throughout the spring," noted Brown. "I hit it well and was able to pick my spots where I had good looks or easy up-and-downs…but, it was really the final round last week (65 at Martin Downs) that started things off. I've been hitting it pretty well for a while, and everything came together with the putting that day…I kept it going this week as well."

Brown's 2-over, 74 in the 1st round put him in a tie for 9th, and his 2-under 70 in the 2nd vaulted him into a tie for 3rd and a final group pairing for the final round.

"The course played fairly difficult all week," said Brown of the conditions. "It blew probably 25-30 the first day, and still blew 15-20 the last two…The course was in good shape, but the greens were a bit bumpy, and I was able to make a few putts out there when I don't think a lot of people were doing the same."

Brown trailed Patrick Damron (76/67/71-214) and Brad Tilley (72/71/78-221) by one shot at the start of the final round, but through 7 holes of the day, he already trailed Damron by 4 shots thanks to a bogey on the 4th and a Damron eagle on the 7th. After making a long birdie putt on the 9th hole however, Brown's momentum flipped from out of reach, to right in his wheelhouse heading into the back nine.

"I think it all turned around for me on #9," he noted. "I hit a bad wedge to the back of the green, but made a 50 foot bomb for birdie. It was nice to see something finally drop, and then I hit the ball pretty good from there coming into the house…I had a legitimate birdie putt on pretty much every hole on the back nine."

Brown executed birdies on the 10th and 14th -16th holes on his way to a back-side 4-under, 32 and 68 in his final round. The fiery finish yielded a one shot cushion over Connors, who shot a 68 as well, which included 1 eagle, 6 birdies, 2 bogeys, and 1 double-bogey.

About his first Gateway victory, he noted, "I think this week might have been a little bit of redemption from last year. I lost a playoff on the same course in the final Spring Series event a year ago, and I've been playing well for the last month or so, so I think it was perfect redemption to finally be able to break through and get a win here."

Brown played the Spring and Summer Series in '06, and he will play the Summer Series again this year before heading to PGA Tour Qualifying in the fall.