But you still need to activate your account.
FALMOUTH – Eye on the prize.
That’s the approach Jim Gilleon of Summerfield, Fla., is taking in his golf career. Doing well in one tournament allows a player the opportunity to compete some more.
Gilleon added a nice chunk of security Friday with a one-stroke, wire-to-wire victory in the 83rd Wendy’s Maine Open Golf Championship.
Gilleon nursed home a 2-under-par 70 at Falmouth Country Club for a three-day total of 203 and a one-stroke win over Matt Doyle of West Simsbury, Conn. Doyle, who shared the lead with Gilleon after each of the first two rounds, posted a 71 for 204.
John Connelly of Stow, Mass., finished third after shooting a 68 for 207; Jim Salinetti of Lee, Mass., and Chris Congdon of Attleboro, Mass., each shot 69 to tied for fourth at 208; and Rich Parker (70) of Lebanon, N.H., and John Curley (76) of Osterville, Mass., tied for sixth at 209.
Mike Baker of Bradley and Mike Worroll of Cape Elizabeth tied for low Maine pro honors at 213. Baker, the assistant pro at Bangor Municipal Golf Course, and Worroll, the head pro at Purpoodock Club in Cape Elizabeth, each shot 71.
Ben Daughan of York and Mark Plummer of Manchester tied for low amateur at 220. Daughan shot a 70, Plummer a 75.
For Gilleon, the win is another step to get back to the level he once reached.
“It’s just money,” he said of the $5,000 first-place paycheck. “I’m happy to win, … but it just gives me some bucks to keep going.”
In 1998, the 34-year-old made the Nike [now Buy.com] Tour. He didn’t make enough to keep his card, so he had to go back to PGA Tour qualifying school.
“Last October, I had the flu and I only played the first two days,” he said. “In ’99, I had a shoulder injury.”
It was back to mini-tours and state opens.
“If you’re not winning, you’re not making any money,” said Gilleon.
The PGA Tour, or even the Buy.com Tour, is where the money is, according to Gilleon.
“There was so much money available, you wouldn’t believe it,” said Gilleon of his year on the Nike Tour. “One guy said, ‘I’ll give you $20,000 to wear my hat for the year.’ I said to myself, ‘OK, there’s one.’
“Another guy offered $15,000 to put his name on my bag, and another said he’d give me $10,000 if I’d wear his shoes. It was heaven.”
With temperatures in the high 80’s and humidity to match, Friday wasn’t going to be confused with heaven, but for Gilleon it was almost pleasant.
He started the day tied with Doyle and Curley, but he played par golf at the start and took the lead when Curley bogeyed 244-yard, par-3 second hole and Doyle bogeyed the 427-yard, par-4 third.
Gilleon padded his lead with a birdie on the fifth hole while Doyle made par and Curley bogeyed.
Doyle and Curley made their first birdies on the next hole, but Gilleon trumped them by draining his eagle putt and increasing his lead to three over Doyle and four over Curley.
“The front nine, basically, he wore us out,” said Doyle. “I was like Seve Ballesteros out there, trying to get up and down from everywhere.
“He played better.”
The margins stayed the same through the turn, and that was fine with Gilleon.
“I was playing safe, careful, and I was still making birdies,” said Gilleon.
He birdied 10 to get to 12 under par for the tournament, compared to 8 under for Doyle and 6 under for Curley.
Doyle and Curley both birdied 11 to Gilleon’s par, but Gilleon returned the favor with a birdie on 13 against his competitors’ pars, and picked up another stroke with a par on 14.
Gilleon thought he was in the driver’s seat at that point.
“I was playing really good, then I hit a shot way to the right [and out of bounds],” said Gilleon of the 15th hole. He made double-bogey 6, while Doyle and Curley made pars.
“That got my attention,” said Gilleon. “Then it was a struggle.”
Still, he held a three-stroke lead with three holes to go.
“Then I hit 17,” said Gilleon of the last par-5.
Trying to play safe with an iron, he hit his tee shot into the right rough. He could only hit to about 170 yards out and face a sidehill lie with the ball well below his feet. He left his approach shot in the left front bunker.
There was no sand [under the ball],” said Gilleon. “I tried to hit well behind the ball, but the club bounced right into the ball.
“I could see it coming, but at the same time, there was nothing I could about it. Thank God I stayed cool.”
The ball bounded across the green, and his next chip from the fringe curled away from the cup and ran 10 feet below the hole.
That’s when Doyle rolled in his birdie putt from 35 feet above the hole dead-center into the cup.
“I knew if I could sneak that putt in, it would be interesting coming down 18,” said Doyle.
Gilleon benefited from seeing Curley’s putt not break and made his bogey putt, keeping a one-stroke lead going into the last hole.
Gilleon was again able to watch another putt, this time Doyle’s birdie effort which came up just short, and made another 10-footer for par to seal the win.
“When a guy plays like that, you’ve got to make a lot of birdies,” said Doyle.
He came up one short.
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