Consistent play key to Lewis' win in Texarkana Open

Myles Lewis smiles during the Texarkana Children Charities Open at the Texarkana Country Club.
Myles Lewis smiles during the Texarkana Children Charities Open at the Texarkana Country Club.

Two players shot under par all four rounds in the Texarkana Children Charities Open, and they finished 1-2.

Myles Lewis, 24, of New Orleans finished with a bogey on his 72nd hole, but that didn't keep him from scoring an easy win Saturday with a final round 68 and 275 total, four shots better than Hunter Smith of Cabot, Ark., and Dallas' Charlie Holland, who shot 68 and 70 in the final
round, respectively.

Lewis' win makes him the leading money winner this year on the Adams Pro Tour with $36,367.67. He's made the cut in eight of 10 tournaments.

Texarkana Country Club humbled most of the field, a bright, windy afternoon drying out the par-72 layout, making the challenging greens even more difficult.

TCC club pro Art Romero actually predicted the course might be the eventual winner.

"The course ought to show its teeth a little more today," Romero said Saturday halfway through the final round. "It's drier and firmer, and the pins looked tough, too. It was probably set up tougher the last two rounds."

There were severe momentum changes for several players on the back nine. Lewis, Curtis Reed and James Ross were tied for the lead, with Holland and Eric Ricard only one shot back with nine holes left. All but Lewis quickly started fading.

Reed started the back nine with a bogey, and double-bogied the par-3 11th. Another bogey at 14 spelled his exit officially. Ross' story was really said, considering he was 5-under-par on the day after seven holes. A bogey at 12 and double bogey at 14 silenced his run at the title.

Despite those collapses, Romero had high praise for the players in this year's field.

"To me it's always exciting to bring in a lot of quality players to expose Texarkana Country Club," Romero said. "We not only had some of the best players in the country here this week, but some of the best in the world. Some people believe we have the best kept secret (TCC) because we're not in the bigger cities. It's pretty unique to have a course of this quality here. We're very fortunate in Texarkana."

Tournament officials said they didn't hear an unkind word about Texarkana, the course, or the hospitality provided from the players. One player had just signed his scorecard after shooting 80, and walked away saying, "what a great golf course."

Lewis pocketed $20,500 for his win, while Smith and Holland took home $9,175 each. The tournament also raised several thousand dollars for Texarkana Children Charities in the Pro-AM.

Texarkana's Steve Ledwell and Mark Vanherpen are the reason the Adams Pro Tour came to the city. Officials are still putting the 2018 tournament schedule together and it was not known Saturday if this event would be returning next summer.

"The only hitch this year was the rain on Thursday; it got us in a bit of a bind with course conditioning, but the last two days went really smooth," Romero said. "I might add that I wouldn't be surprised to see several of these players on the PGA Tour in the next two or three years. I think quite a few of them will be on the Web.com Tour next year."

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