Pickus Takes the Ind. Match Play Title — and the Tour Challenge and Desert Cup Top 10 Are Wide Open
Day 1 of the Tour Challenge managed to settle one championship while creating an entirely new mess for Day 2.
Jim Pickus is the Individual Match Play champion after outlasting Tim Kartman in a match that needed two extra holes to decide it. Kartman came up just short of the title, but there wasn’t much separating the two after a full round plus bonus golf.
The consolation match had its own grind. An injured Brad Pilon battled Matt Newsome throughout the day before Newsome finally closed him out 3 & 2. That put the final Match Play points on the board: Pickus 500, Kartman 275, Newsome 150 and Pilon 100.
Those points matter immediately. Kartman jumps to 2,388 points, only nine behind Dale Cohen at 2,397 and now within 400 of Desert Cup leader Brennon Shay at 2,788. Newsome climbs to sixth with 1,914, while Pilon sits ninth at 1,706. And Pickus gets more than a trophy out of the deal—his 500-point championship haul pushes him to 1,627 and 11th place.
McGurren Sets the Day 1 Pace
While Match Play was finishing its business, Dan McGurren quietly gave everybody else something to worry about.
McGurren owns the Day 1 lead after a net 68, with Kerry Severson one shot back at 69 and Nick Auditore sitting third at 70. Then comes the traffic jam: Jason Allen, Dave Banks, Justin Bowen, Andrew Chorley and Tyler Dorethy all posted net 71s.
And this isn't an ordinary Sunday points table waiting at the finish line. Tour Challenge points are doubled, with only the Top 20 getting paid in Desert Cup points. That puts an enormous premium on Day 2.
There are plenty of Desert Cup names already positioned to take advantage. Auditore, currently fifth in the standings, starts Day 2 just two shots off McGurren's pace. Leader Brennon Shay is in the group at net 72, along with Casey Hatch and newly crowned Match Play champion Pickus. Kevin Hall, Matthew Newsome, PJ Singh and Jonathan Chorley are all another shot back at 73.
Kartman begins Day 2 at net 74. Cohen, currently second in the Desert Cup, has more work to do after a 77, while fourth-place Spencer Harter will need a significant move after opening with a 79.
One Round, A Lot of Movement
Shay still owns the Desert Cup lead at 2,788, but the Tour Challenge has enough points on the table to rearrange considerably more than the top of the standings.
Nobody illustrates that better than Dan McGurren. He entered the week 27th with 1,056 points, but his Day 1-leading net 68 has him sitting on a potentially enormous move. Hold that position through Day 2 and the 1,000-point winner's prize would send him to 2,056—from outside the Top 20 all the way into the heart of the Top 10.
And McGurren isn't the only player with that door open. Jason Allen and Andrew Chorley entered the week 25th and 26th and are both sitting at net 71. Either would vault into the current Top 10 with a runner-up finish: Allen would climb to 1,751, while Chorley would reach 1,729.
That's what Day 2 has waiting. Pickus already walked away with the Match Play championship. Now McGurren has the Tour Challenge lead—and behind him are a whole bunch of guys with 18 holes to turn a good Saturday into a very different Desert Cup season.
Get some rest, boys. We’ll see everyone tomorrow for Day 2, and remember to head into Red’s after the round for awards and discussion. One more day to settle the Tour Challenge—and probably shake up a good chunk of the Desert Cup standings while we’re at it.