Semifinals/ Final
July 30—Every rivalry, no matter how prominent in the public eye, has a turning point.
Such a turning point may have occurred yesterday, when No. 1 seed Jason Whitmire defeated defending champion and No. 2 seed Chris Baran, 1 up, in the final match of the North Adams Singles Match play. Exactly one year ago, Baran defeated Whitmire by that same margin in the semifinals on his way to victory.
“After Friday night,” Whitmire recalled, “when we tied for medalist, he told me, ‘I hope I see you in the finals.’”
His hopes soon turned into reality.
One up through 17 holes, Whitmire watched as Baran played his third shot from more than 220 yards to 15-feet. “It was an incredible shot,” Whitmire said. “At that point, I’m going ‘Ugh, oh.’”
But Whitmire, 24, responded, playing his third shot from a cart path inside 8-feet. Minutes later, after Baran’s birdie bid went begging, Whitmire had two putts to capture the title that had slipped out of his grasps one year earlier.
“It definitely meant something,” Whitmire said of beating his newfound rival. “I wanted to play him. I wanted to beat him.”
Things looked less certain on no. 15. Whitmire held a 1 up lead, but faced a third shot from a greenside bunker while Baran stared down a 15-foot putt for birdie to square the match.
Whitmire then hold his bunker shot and Baran missed his putt for birdie to fall 2 down.
“Basically, it went from me losing the hole to me winning the hole,” said Whitmire, who earned 170 Men’s Player of the Year points. “I was pretty fired up. I think that shot won it for me.”
According to Chairman Pete Cowlin, Sunday morning’s semifinal matches produced the youngest quartet of competitors in tournament history. Chris Baran, 36, held a 4 up lead through 9 and held on to beat his younger brother, 35-year old Peter, 2 & 1. Whitmire made a Houdini-like escape against 22-year old Kevin Lamb, winning in 20 holes. On the first playoff hole, Whitmire was forced to make a 15-foot putt and then watched as Lamb three-putted from 18-feet to halve the hole. Whitmire won with par on the next hole.
“I don’t think he understood that situation as well as he should have,” Whitmire said. “I thought it was over. I was totally dejected at that point.”
Whitmire moved to 5th in the POY Standings, 13 points ahead of Baran.