Corey Pereira of Cameron Park captured the Sahalee Players Championship and the Sierra Players Invitational on consecutive weeks.
Pereira, a senior at Washington, posted a score of 65-70-74-70–279 and led virtually all the way while winning by six strokes over Sean Crocker of Westlake Village at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.
“I told my friends and family that even though I’d been dominating the tournament, there’s always a point where you think you’re going to lose it, where you’re going to need to grind it out,” said Pereira, whose four-stroke lead was down to one and fortunate to be that after he sank a 12-foot bogey putt on the 15th hole in the final round.
However, he birdied two of the last three holes to put the victory away.
“Yes, if it’s ever possible to build momentum by bogeying a hole, that was it,” said Pereira, who followed his clutch bogey putt with a fist pump and shouted, “Come on!”
Crocker, who plays at USC, finished at 73-74-68-70–285, while Owen Taylor of San Juan Capistrano and Sacramento State shot 69-74-71-72–286 to tie for third with Curtis Luck of Australia, who wound up at 74-68-70-74–286.
Jonathan Sanders of Chatsworth, Pereira’s Washington teammate, finished at 71-71-70-75–287 to tie for fifth with Dale Brandt-Richards of Australia, who came in at 72-71-73-71–287, while California Amateur champion Shintaro Ban of San Jose and UNLV shot 70-74-73-71–288 to finish in a tie for seventh that included NCAA champion Aaron Wise of Lake Elsinore and Oregon, who totaled 75-67-73-73–288.
Pereira claimed the Sierra Players for the second straight year, winning by six strokes over Alex Lee of Sacramento at Winchester Country Club in Meadow Vista.
Pereira carded a score of 68-65-70–70–203, 13-under-par, while Lee, a sophomore at Fresno State, wound up at 68-71-70–209.
Isaiah Salinda of South San Francisco and Stanford was third at 71-71-70–212, while Blake Abercrombie of Rocklin and San Diego State shot 77-69-67–213 to tie for fourth with Brandon Baumgarten of Granite Bay and Oregon, who totaled 73-70-70–213, and Jordan Gumberg of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who came in at 74-70-69–213.
Landon Azevedo of Hillmar and Sacramento State was seventh at 76-68-70–214, followed by Ben Corfee of El Macero and UC Davis at 72-66-77–215, while Miguel Delgado of Novato and Notre Dame wound up at 74-74-68–216 to tie for ninth with Anthony Manguray of Tracy and Stanislaus State, who shot 70-74–72–216.
