Geyer wins Wyoming Open title

Jul. 11—CHEYENNE — Ben Geyer bent his head backward and swung his club with one hand out of frustration when his ball rolled well past the cup on Hole No. 12 Sunday evening at the Airport Golf Course.

Geyer thought he could give himself a good look at birdie prior to hitting his second shot on the hole during the final round of the 66th Tyrrell Auto Centers Wyoming State Open. Instead, he put the ball in a similar position to where he saved par during the second round.

Geyer made his putt from the back of the green to card a birdie for the fourth time in six holes to push his score to 18-under par. He followed with a long birdie putt on the par-5 Hole No. 13 to move to 19-under.

Geyer added a birdie on the par-3 No. 14 to move to 20-under. That's a score Geyer kept until the end to claim the championship.

"You can't be short to that pin (on No. 12), so I was frustrated with myself for making the same mistake twice," the Arbuckle, California, resident said. "In reality, I made the right miss, but I didn't trust myself enough.

"That was part of a crucial stretch because Brandon (Kida) and the other guys were starting to make a move."

Geyer came into the round 14-under, but netted a 6-under 64 in the final round. He had seven birdies and a bogey.

"I came out here expecting to have to birdie (Hole Nos. 1 and 2) because I was sure guys were going to go really low," Geyer said. "When I parred both of those holes, I knew I was going to have to work really hard the rest of the day."

Geyer earned a $10,000 paycheck for his efforts.

Kida was grouped with Geyer for the final round and had a front row seat for Geyer's victory.

"He probably got off to a slower start than he had hoped, but he was really steady throughout," said Kida, who moved to San Diego late last year. "He stuck with things and stayed patient. That putt on 12 was a momentum-changer for him.

"It seemed like he was rock-solid from there on in."

Kida entered the round a stroke back of Geyer and finished in a five-way tie for third at 16-under. His round included four birdies, three bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 Hole No. 13. Kida's second shot on that hole rolled within feet of the cup, and Kida easily sank the eagle putt.

Kida bogeyed his final two holes.

"I left a few out there on the course during the front nine, but I hung in there, got on a little run on the back nine and made a couple shots that made things interesting," Kida said. "Unfortunately, I made a couple bogeys on the way home.

"I had a bad lie under a tree and then thought I hit a pretty good shot on (No. 17) that ended up going a couple yards long. There were a couple unfortunate breaks but, overall, it was a solid week."

Zahkai Brown got off to a hot start, shooting 4-under-par after eagling the par-4 Hole No. 5. That got him to 15-under. Brown finished solo-second at 17-under, and pocketed $5,500 for his efforts.

"I played smart and had a good shot at birdie most of the round," Brown said. "The greens slowed up after the weather delay and I couldn't quite get their pace. I was still hitting the ball pretty solid, but I didn't make any putts on the back side.

"You really had to hit it instead of letting it go slower."

John Murdock IV — who won the 2018 Wyoming Open title as an amateur — split third at 16-under. The Laramie resident overcame a bogey on the front nine to get to 17-under with two holes to play. However, he bogeyed the par-3 Hole No. 17.

"I started off slow, which was kind of frustrating," Murdock said. "I made a few putts on the back and kind of got going. I missed a par putt that just lipped out on (No. 17). I wanted that one really bad.

"I'm proud of how I played, though, because I made lot of putts on the weekend."

Denver's Hunter Swanson won the championship amateur title at 11-under. He was only 1-under in the final round.

"I was hitting the driver really well, and that's what I was most confident with," said the 18-year-old, who will golf at the University of Colorado. "I thought I could really go after some of those short par-4s and the par-5s. I was hitting it straight more than anything."

A 4-under first round followed by a 6-under second round put Swanson well ahead of the field and got him into the second-to-last grouping of the day with three professionals.

"That was a lot of fun," Swanson said. "I don't get the opportunity to do that a lot in the tournaments I play. They helped me a lot and taught me some things about reflecting on shots I hit.

"It was fun to see how they interacted with each other yet took the game very seriously. Every shot matters for them when they're playing for a living."

Cheyenne's Blake Danni — who shared championship amateur honors in 2019 — made a late surge with four birdies on the back nine to finish his final round at 6-under 64. He was 9-under for the tournament.

The round was twice delayed because of lightning. The first delay lasted just shy of an hour. The final group was able to finish one hole and tee off on another before the air horn was blown to suspend play a second time. That delay was shorter, but no less detrimental to most players. Officials warned them the tournament would be called and 36-hole scores reinstated if play had to be stopped a third time.

Geyer was happy he didn't have to win a shortened tournament.

"Mentally, it was tough to come back and play, but I'm glad we were able to finish," he said. "If we had only had 36-hole scores, there would have been an asterisk there. It's gratifying to know I'm the champion after 54 holes, especially the way I played my last 12 holes."

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.