Patience, consistency pay off for PA Open winner Jimmy Ellis

It doesn’t take the longest hitter to win a tournament at Oakmont Country Club. It takes one who is patient and willing to take what is given.

Par wins tournaments at Oakmont. Risks rarely pay off.

Peters Township’s Jimmy Ellis, 34, wasn’t flashy during the three rounds of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 104th Open. He was just consistent.

Three rounds of even-par golf (213) resulted in a victory Wednesday.

“There are some great young golfers out here,” Ellis said. “Nine of out 10 times, I’m not beating Connor Schmidt, Mark Goetz or Tommy Nettles. Wednesday was my day.”

After escaping No. 17 with a par, Ellis walked to the famous final hole with a two-shot lead. He paused a second to figure out how he would attack the hole.

“Do I pump driver down the middle like Angel Cabrera did without a care to win the 2007 U.S. Open, or do I try to take the bunkers out of play and hit an iron to No. 15 fairway?” Ellis said. “So I played it safe.

“It was a grind. All I tried to do was make par and make as many as humanly possible. They key is managing the five-minute windows when you can make an absolute disaster. A lot of times when you think you’re going to make birdie, it hurts you. You just have to accept par and move on.”

Two players from the eastern side of the state — Troy Vannucci and William Davenport — tied for second a 1-over-par, and Goetz, Schmidt and J.D. Dornes tied for fourth at 3-over.

Irwin’s Dan Obremski and Pittsburgh’s Kevin Shields tied for eighth at 5-over. Shields had the low round of the day, a 2-under 69. Only one other player was under par during the final round.

“This is my favorite courses,” Ellis said. “It’s so hard. It almost helps me that I’m not as good as some of these guys.

“It’s incredible to win here. It’s the best course in the world. It’s fantastic.”

It was a great week for Peters Township golf with Ellis winning, Schmidt placing fifth and Nettles leading after the first day.

“It’s pretty special, all of us doing so well,” Schmidt said. “Even Alec (Stopperich) was in the field.”

Three of the four players call Venetia home.

“I’m not disappointed,” Goetz said. “I played really well. It was a grind and a lot of fun.”

Pennsylvania Golf Association

104th Open Championship

Oakmont Country Club, par 71

Wednesday

Final round

1. a-Jimmy Ellis 71-71-71—213

T2. a-Troy Vannucci 72-71-71—214

T2. a-William Davenport 70-73-71—214

T4. J.D. Dornes 73-72-71—216

T4. a-Mark Goetz 70-73-73—216

T4. a-Connor Schmidt 73-70-73—216

7. Christopher Crawford 71-71-75—217

T8. a-Cole Wilcox 71-71-76—218

T8. Dan Obremski 73-72-73—218

T8. Kevin Shields 73-76-69—218

Other local scores

T13. Mike Van Sickel 74-71-75—220

T16. a-Louis Olsakvsky 74-76-71—221

T16. Matt Holuta 69-76-76—221

T22. Matt Gurska 78-71-73—222

T25. a-Christopher Tanabe 71-77-75—223

T28. Kevin Koerbel 73-76-75—224

T32. Beau Titsworth 73-75-77—225

T37. Devin Gee 75-75-76—226

T37. Tommy Nettles 67-81-78—226

39. a-Nathan Smith 74-73-80—227

43. Bob Ford 72-76-83—231