Ledford-Mitchell Win Tennessee Four-Ball

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.—Any designs Chase Narramore and Polk Brown had of pulling off their second come-from-behind victory of the day withered away under the afternoon sun.
Narromore and Brown lost five straight holes, opening the door for Adam Mitchell and Bryce Ledford to claim the TGA Four Ball Championship 5&3 at The Ridges on Sunday.
The championship match in the senior division was even more lopsided as William Liberato and Gene Lomax closed out Gary Pierce and Tony Cox 6&5.
Narramore and Brown grabbed the lead on the first hole when Brown knocked his approach shot stiff for a kick-in birdie. Brown made it back-to-back birdies on the second hole, and the duo seemed to be establishing control of the match.
Mitchell and Ledford finally evened things up when Ledford sank a 10-footer for birdie on the fourth hole, giving the pair some much-needed momentum.
"We tried not to panic," Mitchell said. "It was not the first time we were down. We didn’t try to press."
The match stayed square until the 7th hole, which marked the beginning of the end for Narramore and Brown. Brown stepped up to the tee at the 188-yard par 3 and hit his iron shot a little too strong. Narramore dumped his tee ball in the hazard, leaving the pressure on Brown’s shoulders. Brown three-putted for bogey, and Mitchell and Ledford made a par and never looked back.
"I thought I had a good club," Brown said of his tee shot on the 7th. "I can’t believe I hit the ball to the back of the green."
After playing the first six holes at two under par, Brown and Narramore were three over par on the next five holes, losing all of them. By the time they reached the 12th tee, Mitchell and Ledford found themselves five up with seven to play.
"I’m not going to lie, I was tired," Brown said. "That’s the mental aspect of it. You get tired and lose that touch of focus. But they played great, and they deserved to win."
Narramore and Brown birdied 12 and 13 to get to within three holes, and it appeared for a moment that another comeback could be in the works. After all, the duo had come from three behind to beat P.J. Smith and Phillip Breeding in the semifinals.
The was no more magic to be found, however, as Mitchell and Ledford made birdies at 14 and 15 to close out the match.
While Brown and Narramore made their share of mistakes, the extra distance that Mitchell and Ledford had off the tee made a difference on a firm and fast golf course.
Mitchell and Ledford were consistently 20-30 yards farther up the fairway, and they made the most of the advantage. The duo won every par five and virtually every long par four.
"It was a factor," Mitchell said of the extra distance, "The course was firm, so it’s nice to have a shorter iron in your hands."
While Mitchell and Narromore’s championship was essentially won during the middle holes, Liberato and Lomax used a fast start to sink their opponents.
"The pins were set up tough on the first four or five holes," Lomax said. "We managed to knock in a couple of birdies."
Pierce and Cox were never able to recover and were eventually closed out on the 14th hole. The anticlimactic finish was just fine with Liberato and Lomax. The two had seen their share of high drama over the course of the tournament.
After qualifying with three strokes to spare, Liberato and Lomax needed an epic effort on Saturday just to make it to the finals.
"Yesterday was a marathon," Liberato noted.
It took the duo 22 holes to win their quarterfinal match before going all 18 holes later in the day to win their semifinal contest one up.
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Results for contest Semifinals:
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Narramore/Brown, Smith/Breeding, Narramore/Brown Won 2 1

King/Rose, Mitchell/Ledford, Mitchell/Ledford Won 2 1

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Results for contest Finals:
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Mitchell/Ledford, Narramore/Brown, Mitchell/Ledford Won 5 3