BANGOR – The 15th hole Saturday at Bangor Municipal Golf Course was pointed to as the key to Matt Donovan’s victory in the 39th Greater Bangor Open.

Donovan, of Pittsfield, Mass., became the first competitor to successfully defend his GBO crown when he shot a 2-under-par 67 for a three-day total of 8-under 199 and a three-stroke victory over Rodney Butcher of New Port Richey, Fla., and a four-shot margin over Eric Egloff of Sandy Spring, Md.

Butcher posted an even-par 69 Saturday for 202, and Egloff, the 1995 GBO victor, shot a 71 for 203.

Egloff was still upbeat because he turned around and won the Chrysler Q-school Shootout, a skills competition among the top nine finishers. Egloff’s performance means his entry into the PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament, approximately $4,000, is paid for.

First-round leader George Bradford (70 Saturday) of Pikesville, Md., Bobby Tracy (68) of Miami, Fla., and Rob Oppenheim (68) of Andover, Mass., tied for fourth at 204, and Joe Clark Jr. (65) of Holderness, N.H., and Jim Hallet (67) of South Yarmouth, Mass., tied for seventh at 205. Corey Poulin of Skowhegan was the low amateur with 71-211.

Donovan earned the $11,000 top prize out of the $50,000 purse because he was able to make lemonade out of a lemon of a lie after his tee shot on the 15th hole (the long par-3 sixth because the nines were reversed for the final round).

“It was the worst lie I had all week,” said Donovan of the rough he was in beyond the left bunker and about a foot off the left collar.

“I didn’t think I could do much with it, but I thought I could do better,” said Donovan, whose chip barely escaped the thick grass and stopped 12 feet short of the cup.

Butcher, who had been a stroke behind coming in to the hole, had his tee shot into the rough just off the right side of the green. His second shot came up about 10 feet short.

Egloff, who was two strokes back, had hit his tee shot into the right bunker and ended up making bogey.

Donovan drained his 12-footer to save par.

“After my make, that put a lot of pressure on Rodney,” said Donovan.

“That was a key putt,” said Butcher, who played on the Nationwide Tour last year.

Butcher’s putt squeaked by on the left and he made bogey.

“After the par-3, it was almost impossible to catch him,” said Butcher.

Egloff said, “The key was his putt on 15, then the birdie on 16 gave him some breathing room.”

“That birdie on 16 was a little unexpected,” said Donovan of his 20-foot putt. “It found the side door at the last minute.”

After that, Donovan played the last two holes on cruise control.

“I just had to hit the tee shot in the fairway and bring it home,” he said. “Don’t do anything crazy.”

Donovan parred the last two holes, although he had a short birdie putt on the last hole that he wanted to make.

“I was disappointed I missed the putt on 18 because that would have tied the record,” said Donovan of the tournament scoring record he set last year.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though.

“After the 12th hole, I felt the momentum was leaving me,” said Donovan, who had bogeyed the short par-3 to fall back into a tie with Butcher, two strokes ahead of Egloff.

Egloff scratched out a birdie on the par-5 13th, but he could never close the gap completely. Egloff started the day tied with Donovan, but a double-bogey 6 on the third hole dropped him out of the lead and he was playing catch-up the rest of the way.

“I was just scratching and clawing all day,” said Egloff. “Never say die.”

Butcher was tied several times but could never take the lead.

“Matt played real steady,” said Butcher, winner of the 1997 Maine Open, the 2001 Greater Portland Open, and three Vermont Opens.

“I played well. I didn’t hand him anything,” added Butcher.

“Last year, I won from behind,” said Donovan. “This time I was in the lead, or near the lead, all week.

“There’s certainly more pressure as the defending champ.”

Golf

GREATER BANGOR OPEN

At Bangor Municipal GC

Saturday’s final results

(a-amateur)

$11,000

Donovan, Matthew 64-68-67-199

$6,000

Butcher, Rodney 67-66-69-202

$3,800

Egloff, Eric 68-64-71-203

$2,383.33

Bradford, George 63-71-70-204

Tracy, Bobby 70-66-68-204

Oppenheim, Rob 68-68-68-204

$1,225

Clark, Joe Jr. 72-68-65-205

Hallet, Jim 67-71-67-205

$1,000

Sykora, Shannon 69-68-69-206

$816.66

Iaciofano, Joey 70-70-67-207

Seavey, Jeff 68-69-70-207

Brown, Michael 72-64-71-207

$637.50

Morrison, Sandy 69-72-67-208

Martin, Jeff 65-73-70-208

Zackheim, Eli 69-69-70-208

Connelly, John 71-69-68-208

Ehrlich, Scott 66-69-73-208

Cook, Nick 68-68-72-208

$515

Westfall, Todd 73-68-68-209

Bartolacci, Christian 70-71-68-209

Hong, Chang 68-71-70-209

BloomfieldJohn 69-68-72-209

Bare, Andrew 65-72-72-209

$464.50

Hawley, Scott 73-69-68-210

Baker, Mike 72-69-69-210

Beman, Deane 68-73-69-210

Parker, Rich 70-69-71-210

Ouellette, Ryan 71-68-71-210

Cunningham, Joseph 68-72-70-210

Wanner, Brent 70-67-73-210

Schuster, David 67-73-71-211

Brigham, Corey 70-69-72-211

Goodhue, Justin 69-70-72-211

Dunn, Oliver 68-70-73-211

(500)

a-Poulin, Corey 69-71-71-211

Clark, Sean 68-73-71-212

Eaton, Matthew 72-67-73-212

Spitz, David 66-73-73-212

Johnston, Kerry 70-70-72-212

MacKellar, Bryant 70-69-73-212

(400)

a-Arnette, John 72-65-75-212

Lewis, Ken 72-70-71-213

Karbowski, Rick 67-72-74-213

Rasku, Denny 68-71-74-213

Link, William IV 71-67-75-213

Jenkins, Steven 72-70-72-214

Guttman, Mo 73-69-72-214

Powell, Jeff 69-72-73-214

Salinetti, Jim 71-69-74-214

Jones, Jimmy 71-71-73-215

Hickson, John 68-74-73-215

Lawless, Marc 70-71-74-215

(325)

a-Speirs, Jesse 73-70-72-215

Stanovich, Marty 70-72-74-216

Darling, Bob Jr. 71-69-76-216

Edwards, Gregg 68-72-77-217

(275)

a-Ochs, R.J. 73-74-71-218

Ryan, Michael 72-69-80-221

(250)

a-Powers, John 73-74-78-225

(200)

a-McGee, Ross 71-81-75-227

(162.50)

a-Anderson, Jay 75-76-77-228

a-Paquette, Norman 74-76-78-228

(75)

a-Tiensivu, Robert 77-80-73-230

a-Estabrook, Ben 75-77-78-230

a-Royal, John 74-76-80-230

a-Groves, Andrew 78-79-75-232

a-Royal, Jackie 79-76-77-232

a-Jackson, Eric 83-74-76-233

a-Loving, Larry 70-83-83-236