Schuchart wins playoff, Nebraska PGA pro title

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By KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

Mike Schuchart finally understood where he stood.

All he needed to do was make a 20-inch putt on his 55th hole of competition in two days.

No problem.

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Mike Schuchart, the former PGA Tour pro and former Husker, won the event for the fourth consecutive year and for the sixth time in seven years in a tournament that schedules 27 holes each of two days. (LJS File)

Mike Schuchart, the former PGA Tour pro and former Husker, won the event for the fourth consecutive year and for the sixth time in seven years in a tournament that schedules 27 holes each of two days. (LJS File)

Schuchart drained the short putt and won the Nebraska PGA Professional Golf Championship Tuesday at Wilderness Ridge.

The former PGA Tour pro and former Husker won the event for the fourth consecutive year and for the sixth time in seven years in a tournament that schedules 27 holes each of two days.

He beat Scott Holly, who helps run the University of Nebraska Professional Golf Management Program, on the first playoff hole. Holly, who tied Schuchart at 5-under 208, surged into a tie for the lead with a par on the 18th.

Wilderness Ridge golf pro Jim White, who led the field of 53 Nebraska PGA pros by one with two holes left, finished third at 209 and Mike Antonio of Happy Hollow Country Club in Omaha finished fourth at 210. The top four players qualify for National PGA Pro Championship next June in Albuquerque, N.M.

“I honestly thought Scott (Holly) won the tournament on the last hole and when he made his par, I said ‘Nice job, congratulations,’ ” Schuchart said. “Then, he looked at me kind of strange and I was told we were going to a playoff.”

Schuchart drove the fairway, hit a perfect 8-iron from 148 yards to less than two feet from the cup on the playoff hole. Holly drove into a fairway bunker, chipped short and finished with a bogey.

White, who at his home course held the lead after 52 holes, drove into the water from the tee on No. 17 and then hit the water on No. 18.

Schuchart, the director of the Golf Academy at Wilderness Ridge and an assistant coach with the NU women’s team, said he was pleased.

“I didn’t make any great putts or super shots — just fairways and greens, my kind of golf,” he said. “Not many bogeys and not a lot of birdies. But this is the ninth time I’ve won this tournament.”

Shane Zywiec of Highlands Golf Course finished fifth at 212.

Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.