Matt Wilson of Cypress chipped in from 20 feet for a birdie on the ninth playoff hole to beat Christopher Evans of Bermuda Dunes and win the 121st California State Open at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta.
After Wilson chipped in, Evans had a chance to prolong the playoff, but missed his 15-foot birdie putt from the fringe after they battled virtually shot-for-shot for the first eight extra holes.
Both players three-putted for bogey the eighth playoff hole and moved on for one more.
“The chip on the final hole checked and I was shocked it went in to seal the deal,” said the 25-year-old Wilson, who went to Cal State Fullerton and plays on the Golden State Tour. “I can’t wait to come back next year to defend my title.
“I don’t have a lot of experience in playoffs (it was his second), but today certainly makes up for it. When I got hot there on my back nine, I didn’t take a look at the scoring to see where I was, and just focused on running my own race.
“After the three-putt I was grateful to still have life and another hole. Being able to close out a tournament is something I’ve been working on.”
Wilson, who started the final round three strokes behind the leaders, carded a score of 68-73-66-67—274, 14-under-par, to wind up even with Evans, who wound up at 68-71-66-69—274.
Cody Blick of Danville and San Jose State, shot 73-67-70-65—275 to tie for third with Henry Chung of Cerritos, who finished at 64-70-72-69—275, 2019 champion Josh Anderson of Murrieta, who wound up at 66-69-69-71—275 and Christian Rajcic of Ramona, who totaled 68-67-69-71—275.
John Young Kim of Las Vegas posted a score of a 75-66-67-68—276 to tie for seventh with Jared Sawada of Hawaii, who finished at 69-69-68-70—276, while Daniel Ochoa of Carlsbad was ninth at 67-71-70-69—277.
Hayden Wood of Scottsdale, Ariz., shot 71-72-68-67—278 to tie for 10th with David Kim of Buena Park, who wound up at 69-74-68-67—278, and Justin Kim of Fullerton, who came in at 68-75-68-67—278.
Previous winners of the California State Open include Walter Hagen, Gene Littler, Jerry Barber, Lloyd Mangrum, Dutch Harrison, Tal Smith, Johnny Dawson, Horton Smith, Leo Diegel, Willie Hunter, MacDonald Smith, Olin Dutra, Rex Caldwell, George Van Elm, Roger Maltbie, Jason Gore, Kirk Triplett, Todd Fischer, Michael Block, Todd Demsey, Jeff Hart and Dennis Paulson.
The tournament was canceled last year because of the Coronavirus.
For complete results, visit https://scpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/scpga21/event/scpga21105/contest/5/leaderboard.htm
