Austin Jordan shoots final round 65 to win Laramie Open title

Jordan teed off two groups ahead of the leaders, and after a three-putt bogey on the 335-yard par-4 first hole, he birdied five of the final eight on the front nine, including three straight on Hole Nos. 4-6.

Jordan birdied two of his first three holes on the back nine, had bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, but birdied Nos. 16 and 17.

“I thought I had to get to 10-under to have a chance, but I wasn’t paying attention to the scores. I was just doing my own deal,” Jordan said. “But with the weather delay (about 35 minutes while he was on the back nine), and how the weather changes so fast around here, you never know.

“I am very pleased with how I played. I thought I did a good job with my distance control this week.”

Tyler Torano of Chula Vista, California, and Nick Mason of Parker, Colorado, tied for second at 6-under 207. Torano shot 1-under Sunday, Mason shot 5-under. Both won $6,000.

Like Jordan, this was the first Laramie Open for Torano.

“I felt like I had a good game plan, and the main thing with the rough being so long was staying in the fairways,” Torano said. “I also did a good job keeping the ball below the hole on the greens. I rolled in some key putts every round.”

Torano birdied Nos. 11 and 12 to get to 7-under for the tournament, and took a peek at the scores a couple of holes later to see where he was at.

“I saw (Jordan) was taking off,” Torano said. “I was going to try to make some more birdies, and if not, try to maintain where I was at and let the game come to me.”

Laramie product and former University of Wyoming golfer John Murdock IV led going into the final round among the professionals at 7-under, and UW sophomore-to-be Tyler Severin also was in the final group at 7-under as an amateur. However, both failed to get going Sunday.

Murdock shot 3-over 74, tied for sixth with a three-round total of 4-under 209 and won $2,275 in his second tournament as a pro.

“It was just one of those days,” Murdock said. “I knew it was going to be tough, and knew there would be pressure. I just couldn’t make any putts, but this was a great learning experience.”

There was a large gallery following Murdock and Severin throughout the round.

“It was really cool,” Murdock said. “Having that many people watch you is different, but it is fun. I feel like I play better when I have a bunch of people watching because it makes you happy that people care about you.

“I didn’t screw up anywhere massively, I just couldn't get the putts to drop. That happens to me a couple of times a week.

After a bogey-free round of 5-under 66 Saturday, Murdock made just one birdie Sunday on the par-4 18th.

Severin shot 4-over 75 Sunday, but was still the low amateur at 3-under.

“Before the round I was a little nervous, but everyone watching was great,” Severin said. “None of us in our group made any putts (Sunday), but it was cool to be leading a professional tournament going into the last round.

"Even though it didn’t end up how I wanted it, it was a good learning experience. I just hope I can do better in the next few tournaments.”

Brad Adamonis of Hallandale, Florida, and Ryan Schmitz of Greenwood Village, Colorado, tied for fourth at 5-under and both won $3,375. Adamonis shot 3-under 68 Sunday. Adamonis played on the PGA Tour in 2008-09, and owns a professional victory on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour – formerly the Web.com Tour.

Robert Gagliardi is the WyoSports senior editor. He can be reached at rgagliardi@wyosports.net or 307-755-3325. Follow him on Twitter at @rpgagliardi.