FLOURTOWN, Pa. – Matt Dobyns won the PGA Professional National Championship for the second time in four years Wednesday to top the 20 qualifiers for the PGA Championship.
Dobyns, the 37-year-old head pro at Fresh Meadow in Lake Success, New York, took advantage of playing partner Ben Polland’s closing double bogey for a three-stroke swing and a one-shot victory at windy Philadelphia Cricket Club.
After Polland missed a 10-foot bogey putt on the par-4 18th, Dobyns holed a 5-footer for birdie for an even-par 70 and a 3-under 279 total. In 2012 in Seaside, California, the former University of Texas player won by a record eight strokes.
Polland, a 24-year-old PGA assistant pro at Deepdale in Manhasset, New York, shot a 72. He hit his approach on 18 from an awkward lie above a bunker into the creek fronting the green.
Dobyns birdied the par-4 13th to pull within four shots of Polland and picked up two more strokes when Polland bogeyed the par-4 14th and par-5 15th.
Grant Sturgeon, tied with Polland for the third-round lead, had a 74 to drop into a tie for third with Alan Morin at even par. Sturgeon is a PGA assistant at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York. Morin, a PGA assistant at The Falls in Lake Worth, Florida, closed with a 68.
The PGA Championship is next month at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
