Entering the final round with a one-shot lead, Austin Hannah and Terence Begnel knew they had to come out and make a statement.
The former college teammates from Oral Roberts University did just that, shooting a final-round 9-under-par 63 to win the Quarter Century Partnership by four shots Saturday at Odessa Country Club.
The duo finished at 26-under-par 190 (65-62-63), with Jay McHugh and Andrew Wyatt (64-66-64—194) finished second, while Brian Scherer and Blake Parks (67-62-66—195) taking third.
“We knew that we were playing well going into today,” Hannah said. “We just talked about before the round that we just needed to do the same things that we were doing. Terence and I were able to make a few putts early and that really set the tone for the rest of the round.”
One of the biggest keys in propelling the duo to victory was getting off to a better start early. The team birdied four of the first five holes on the Links Course to build a cushion that grew to as many as five shots at one point early in the round.
“I think we were pretty calm with our nerves before we started playing today,” Begnel said. “We talked about that we had to get to a better start.
“When the putters got hot like they have all week, we just both had a feeling that it was going to be our day.”
Things briefly got sidetracked after a bogey on the sixth when Hannah hit his tee shot in the fairway bunker and Begnel couldn’t get up and down from the greenside bunker.
“That was definitely a wakeup call for us,” he said. “Austin and I both realized that no one is going to give this to us because there are too many good players here at this tournament.”
Hannah was able to bounce back with a birdie on the Par-5 7th hole to get the team back on track and it was just a matter of who could catch them. And with the top six teams within four shots of each other entering the final round, there were chances to take advantage.
Jeremiah Luttrell and Lane Branum was one back and paired with Begnel and Hannah Saturday after shooting a tournament-best 61 Friday. The team, however, fell back with a round of 70 to finish in a tie for fifth with Michael Pruitt and Brady Shivers (66-69-63—198). Pruitt and Shivers matched the low round of the day with Hannah and Begnel.
The best run may have come from McHugh and Wyatt. The 2017 winners got on a late run, closing the round with birdies on four of the last six holes en route to a round of 64. They were the closest team late in the round and also got within two strokes after saving par on 18 but ran out of holes to complete the comeback.
“I thought we played well today,” McHugh said. “We just got off to a slow start early on and didn’t do as well as we needed to catch up.”
Behind them, Austin and Begnel kept picking each other up in key situations. Austin made a birdie on the Par 3 13th to build the lead and both he and Begnel made birdies on 16 to maintain their advantage.
And after staying cool and collected on a hot day, Austin closed out the tournament emphatically with a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 18.
