Published: July 13, 2008 10:36 pm         

Wharton takes 8-shot lead into final round

Is it over?

With 18 holes left in the 28th BNI Memorial Golf Tournament, Summersville native Alan Wharton heads the field of 166 golfers by a commanding 8 strokes over four golfers.

The tournament moves to The Resort at Glade Springs’ Cobb Course today for the final round.

It’s believed to be the first time that anybody has had that big a lead heading into the final day of the tournament.

Ironically, Benny Bowles led the 1998 BNI by five shots heading into the last day but by the turn, Wharton had caught him. After passing Bowles, the two ended up tied after 18 and Bowles won in a playoff.

So Wharton isn’t resting on his two-day total.

“I don’t think I’ll feel comfortable until it’s over,” Wharton, who has several second-place BNI finishes to his credit, said. “Anything can happen in golf. You never want to go into a tournament thinking that it’s over.”

“Somebody is going to have to go low, say a 67, and then hope he slips up somewhere,” said Don Jones, one of the four golfers tied with a 2-under 142. “If he plays like he did (Sunday), it’s over.”

Two-time defending champion Brandon Reece, recent Shady Spring graduate Scott Prince and Jeff Bryant also sit eight shots back.

“Anything can happen,” said Reece. “Like (in 2005) when Mike had a hole-in-one and came back to win. And me chipping in (last year) on No. 9. It’s a three-day tournament. But yeah, I’d rather be in a better situation than eight shots behind.”

Wharton was a birdie machine between holes No. 8 and 14, when he had five of his seven birdies. His only hiccup came on No. 16, where he had a bogey on a hole that gave several golfers fits during the overcast afternoon.

Key to Wharton’s emergence this time around is the fact that he has dropped golf on his priority list.

“Winning this tournament would be big to me,” Wharton said. “But I’ve got children and a wife now, so I kind of position (golf) a little differently now. I used to come in with one purpose, and that was to win. Now I realize that one bad shot is not the end of the world.”

Wharton said the big lead might slightly alter his approach today.

“There might be a couple more two irons off the tee on certain holes, something like that,” Wharton said. “But honestly, I’m aggressive, almost to a fault. Having the lead doesn’t really change my position or my approach to the game.”

Tim Boggs is sixth with a 143 and first-day leader Mike Mays seventh after a 77 gave him a two-day total of 144.

“I was disappointed but not surprised,” Mays said. “It was an erratic day. I had hoped to shoot something like a 72, 73. But I had quadruple bogey. I just haven’t played as much golf as people might think. Yesterday was a great day. Today, it was up and down.”

Now, the tournament shapes up to be Alan Wharton’s for the taking.

But it’s not over yet.

— E-mail:

demorrison@register-herald.com