Bilby closes with 65, becomes first amateur to win West Virginia Open in 19 years – WV MetroNews

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Ryan Bilby was in complete control of the West Virginia Open with six holes to play.

A junior at Marshall, Bilby stepped to the 4th hole at Berry Hills Country Club 9-under par and with a four-shot lead on playing partner Mason Williams, the only person within realistic striking distance at that point.

A par 5 that measures approximately 500 yards, No. 4 presents a quality eagle opportunity for players of Bilby’s caliber, and he’d carded one during Wednesday’s opening round on that hole.

However, missing right off the tee spells trouble, and on this instance, that’s exactly what Bilby did. Unsure of if his ball was in play, Bilby blasted a provisional tee shot that split the fairway.

Bilby was ultimately unable to find his first tee shot and forced to play off the provisional, leaving him about 185 yards in for his fourth shot. The former Brooke High School standout hit that approach to about 15 feet, then knocked in the par putt to stay at 9-under par.

“Essentially I was just trying to make 6 by hitting the green and then two putt to limit the damage,” Bilby said. “I hit a great 7 iron after my second tee shot and had a fast, downhill putt. I was hoping the hole got in the way and it did. That was huge.” 

Although Williams made birdie on that hole to pull within three, the save gave Bilby plenty of wiggle room down the stretch and prolonged the momentum he had throughout much of a final round 65.

That enabled Bilby to double his two-round total of 5-under par to 10-under, while holding off Williams for a two-shot victory, and in the process, becoming the first amateur to win the state open in 19 years.

“It’s just amazing. It still doesn’t feel real. I don’t know if it will ever or when, but I’ve been playing great all summer,” Bilby said. “I had high expectations coming in and it ended up working out really well.”

David Bradshaw was the most recent amateur to win the West Virginia Open for his first of 12 titles in the event to this point.

Save for his first shot and hole of the day, Bilby could hardly have scripted a better round.

“Sometimes you just get beat. Hats off to him,” Williams said. “He played an unbelievable golf and was very gritty out there. He made a lot of clutch par putts down the stretch. I did my part and he just did his part a little bit better.”

FINAL SCORES FROM 90TH WEST VIRGINIA OPEN

After making a bogey on No. 10, Bilby settled in with a par and then rolled in a putt from about 15 feet on the par-3 12th hole for his first birdie. He followed that with an eagle putt from a near equal distance on the par-5 13th right after Williams’ eagle putt from a similar spot just missed.

“It kind of woke me up,” Bilby said of the lone bogey. “I hit a bad tee shot and kind of woke up and realized where I was and what I had a chance to do today. It worked and I woke up.”

Bilby added a birdie on No. 17 to go with four pars for the remainder of the back nine and made the turn in 31 and with a three-shot lead.

“After the front, it was kind of he and I going at it and we knew where each other were at,” Bilby said. “There was never really a number in mind.”

Former Marshall golfer Will Evans, who was in the final group with Bilby and Williams and started two shots back of the lead, turned in 36 with one birdie, one bogey and one double bogey.

Bilby extended his lead with another birdie on the par-4 second hole. He and Williams both hit high quality shots into the par-3 third hole, though both players missed their birdie putt.

Bilby made quality par saves on the fifth and six holes to stay in front by three, and after each player in the final group hit their tee shot on the par-3 seventh, the horn blew for a weather delay.

Within 10 minutes of the stoppage of play, heavy rain swept through Charleston and play was ultimately halted for just over 70 minutes.

“It’s like a mental reset. I went in there and sat down, hung out with my parents and a couple buddies,” Bilby said. “I went out and hit a couple balls and putts and got right back to it.”

Upon the resumption, Bilby lagged a long putt from just off the green to inside 5 feet, while Williams couldn’t get a putt from just inside 20 feet to drop from the fringe. Each player made par on that hole, leaving Bilby with a three-shot lead and only two holes to play.

“At that point, I’m still three down and you just have to do as well as you can,” Williams said. 

On the par-4 eighth, Williams got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie after attempting to drive the green, while Bilby’s birdie putt from about 7 feet lipped out, leaving the margin at two shots heading to the par-5 ninth.

Williams had played the ninth hole in 3-under over the first two rounds, and he blasted his drive down the heart of the fairway, while Bilby’s went into the right rough.

But just as he was throughout an afternoon in which he played 15 holes in scorching temperatures, Bilby remained unfazed. He hit his second shot into the rough just off the green, and then chipped to 7 feet.

Williams reached the green in two shots and had an uphill putt from about 30 feet to reach 9-under par. However, the Bridgeport native left it short, and Bilby made his birdie putt anyhow to give each of the top two finishers a 4 on the closing hole and final scores of 10-under par and 8-under par, respectively.

“I’ve known him for a long time, so it was cool to see us kind of battle it out together,” Williams said. “Berry Hills had a crazy crowd out here. The last couple holes after the rain delay, everyone kind of conglomerated on the last two and it was a really cool finish to see everybody out here.”

Defending champion Christian Brand was the only other player to break par at 2-under following a 68 in the third and final round.

Pat Carter, the low senior, tied Evans for fourth place at even par.

Cory Hoshor, Cam Roam, Jess Ferrell and Bradshaw each finished 1-over par, while Jonathan Clark and Kenny Hess were at 2-over and tied for 10th.

Cabell Midland junior Jack Michael was low junior at 7-over par.

Bilby had 24 official putts in his final round.

“I was seeing my lines really well and when you hit the lines and you’re seeing them well, they go in,” Bilby said. “A lot of them went in today and it was good day to do it, too.”

This was the sixth West Virginia Open at Berry Hills and first since 2015, one of three occasions in which Brand won the event.

“You don’t really know what to expect going into a final round, especially out here,” Williams said. “There are a lot of gettable holes, but with the pins, it’s kind of hard to make a bunch of putts, so you kind of have to play the course as it is. When the delay came, I thought it was going to take at least a couple of birdies on my part and then you need some help. It was fun to play. I did as well as I could and he just did his part a little bit better.”