Remi Bouchard of Le Mirage in Terrebonne, Que., outlasted John McCann of Ontario’s Fairtree Golf Centre in a one-hole playoff to win the 2008 Titleist & FootJoy Canadian PGA Assistants’ Championship at Club de Golf Beleoil in Beleoil, Que., on Thursday.
Bouchard carded 67-68-66 for a 12-under 201 total before going to the extra hole to win his second national Assistants’ championship, exactly 20 years after his first victory in 1988.
“It definitely felt a lot easier to win a championship 20 years ago, but this is a great feeling to once again be at the top of the field,” said Bouchard, who started with two consecutive birdies, with seven pars to follow.
“I was happy that I got off to a strong start, but I didn’t truly feel comfortable out there until I hit the back nine, when I drained a 10-foot downhill putt for birdie on the 10th hole,” he said.
“I left a lot of putts short on the front nine and I knew that I had to pull it together on the back because the conditions were great and I knew someone was going to shoot low out there today.”
Bouchard went on to birdie 10 and 11, then bogeyed the 15th where he pulled a shot and ended up in the rough. “The turning point for me in my game was on 17 where I hit my drive slightly longer than I expected and was about 270 yards away from the centre of the green,” said Bouchard.
“I usually hit my three wood 240, so I thought I would give it a shot and luckily, hit it strong, leaving me about 20 feet from the hole. I just missed my putt for eagle, but was happy with my birdie.”
“I knew it was a close race out there,” he added. “I am the type of player that needs to know what is going on with each group, so that I know what I have to control in my game.”
McCann was one group ahead of Bouchard and Dave Levesque was one group behind. “I found out that Dave was 10-under behind me and that John had already posted 12-under and, at that point, I was 11-under at 17 and knew I had to birdie 18 in order to stay in the game.
“I used my three-iron off the tee at 18 and it was a tough shot as the hole was very narrow sloping left. I landed in the rough, then used my gap wedge to strike it about three feet from the pin and, at this point knew that I could make birdie.”
Bouchard sunk his birdie putt while McCann was hitting balls on the range to prepare for a possible playoff that began on the 18th tee.
“I know that it is tough to shoot low like John did, then wait around for the playoff to begin, whereas I was fresh off the green and in the zone, ready to play again.
“It must have been a tough position for John to be in and when I saw him hit it in the rough off the tee, I felt confident that I was going to win it.”
McCann’s 63 on the day was the lowest round of the tournament as he finished with nine birdies and one bogey.
“Heading into the playoff, I was just trying to mimic how I felt on the course during the afternoon, stay in the present and not get too worked up about any of my shots,” he said.
“Unfortunately, I hit a bad tee shot on 18 in the playoff and knew that I had missed my chance, but it was a great day and I’m thrilled with the way I played over the past three days,” said McCann.
