Leivian and Merchant erase 8-stroke deficit, win WGA Four-ball championship in playoff

After so many close finishes at the lead in tournaments, the pair of Chad Leivian and Andy Merchant have been wondering when their breakthrough moment would be in the Wichita golf scene.

They finally found it this past weekend at the Wichita Golf Association Four-ball championship at Crestview Country Club. The pair of Wichita natives erased an 8-stroke deficit during Sunday’s final round with a 6-under 65 for a 54-hole total of 202 to force a playoff with overnight leaders Tyler Chapman and Kerry Petricek.

On the second playoff hole, the par-3 eighth, Leivian nearly holed a 50-footer and tapped in for par. That became the winning putt when neither Chapman or Petricek could make their par putts.

“I think ‘finally’ was the term that we used,” Leivian said. “We finally pulled one off. It had been a long time coming, so it feels really good to pull that monkey off our back and take a little stress off. I think this will give us more confidence and some good mojo going into future events.”

Leivian (Bishop Carroll) and Merchant (Maize) both grew up playing golf in the Wichita area, but formed their partnership when they met as members of Reflection Ridge about five years ago. They’ve been competitive in four-ball tournaments before and Merchant was ecstatic their first victory together was at the city championship.

“This is one of the more historic tournaments out there,” Merchant said. “To have your name on that list is Wichita history and being a Wichita kid that grew up in the golfing scene, that’s what made this one a little cooler than maybe some of the other tournaments. That’s what had me excited walking off the green.

“Now we just have to get our names back on there four or five more times,” he added, laughing.

Trailing the leaders by 8 strokes heading into Sunday, Leivian and Merchant both had the mindset to start Sunday’s round that they needed to hit their target number of 9-under 62 to have a chance.

Things were going according to plan when they made the turn 5-under, but a bogey on No. 11 halted the momentum. The duo still were able to turn in a solid score, but they figured missed birdie putts on No. 13, No. 15 and No. 17 would be their downfall. They had packed up their clubs and were ready to leave until the final group came in and they discovered they were in a playoff.

“I thought it was going to be just another time where we would be just short like we had in the past,” Merchant said. “We were pleasantly surprised. A little shocked, but we were ready to go.”

Leivian’s 50-foot putt on the second playoff hole was ultimately what won them the title when neither Chapman or Petricek could make their par saves.

“I had a very similar putt earlier that morning, same angle, same everything so I knew what I needed to do with that putt,” Leivian said. “When it was 10 feet away from the hole, I really thought it was going in. It just barely broke at the tail end, but I had a 6-inch tap-in.”

In the first flight, the father-son duo of Randy and Randall Vautravers was the class of the field with a 54-hole total of 214 to win by 3. Matt and Chris Davis also won the second flight with a 54-hole total of 225, while Gene Bowden and Brent Bahner won the senior flight at Tallgrass with a three-day total of 212 strokes.

WGA four-ball championship

Championship flight (at Crestview South): 1. Chad Leivian-Andy Merchant 66-71-65—202; 2. Tyler Chapman-Kerry Petricek 64-65-73—202; 3. Kale Reynolds-Conrad Walcher 66-66-71—203; 4. Pete Krsnich-Joey Krsnich 66-70-69—205; T5. Craig Howell-Jonathan May 65-70-71—206; T5. Alec Heinen-Brian Burris 66-69-71—206; T7. Matt Lazzo-Max Lazzo 66-75-67—208; T7. Steve Newman-Tracy Chamberlin 68-74-66—208; T9. Charlie Stevens-Mike Holloway 67-71-74—212; T9. Mike Darrah-Adam Wessley 68-74-70—212; T9. Darren Copp-Mark Jolliffe 67-74-71—212; 12. Corey Novascone-Joe Vosburgh 67-73-73—213; 13. Mike Caster-Robert Donovan 68-74-72—214; 14. Travis Clifton-Brock Cole 68-83-81—232.

First flight (at Crestivew South): 1. Randy Vautravers-Randall Vautravers 71-70-73—214; T2. William Hague-Eddie Fahnestock 68-76-73—217; T2. Adam Jones-Logan Brown 68-75-74—217; 4. Eric Johnson-Jason Novascone 72-76-70—218; 5. Jon Downs-Herman Norwood 70-74-75—219; 6. Josh Cleland-Paul Cleland 71-78-73—222; T7. Jeff Martin-Roy Schoonover 73-76-75—224; T7. Paul Goddard-Deuce Steven 70-77-77—224; 9. Spencer Phillips-Bryce Rowe 73-79-73—225; 10. Logan Rotha-Brandon Bonewell 72-83-76—231; T11. Nick Museousky-Mike Museousky 70-84-78—232; T11. Troy Bush-Randy Giggy 70-80-82—232.

Second flight (at Tallgrass): 1. Matt Davis-Chris Davis 74-75-76—225; 2. Brian Phipps-Dave Mellinger 75-76-76—227; 3. Clint Chamerblin-Fred Oberlechner 74-78-77—229; 4. Bob Hartmann-Steve Hartmann 75-81-74—230; 5. Fred Nahr-Rob Galaway 74-79-80—233; 6. Jake Sowders-Matt Fish 81-77-77—235; 7. Daron Kasselmann-Justin Truman 84-82-84—250; 8. A.J. Miller-Broce Heiskell 82-82-88—252.

Senior flight (at Tallgrass): 1. Gene Bowden-Brent Bahner 66-70-76—212; 2. John Schaar-Rick Olickner 64-76-76—216; 3. Rick Putnam-Stan Ferguson 71-75-72—218; T4. Bill Quattlebaum-Vince Lara 72-76-72—220; T4. A.J. Jenkins-Ray Brundige 67-71-82—220; 6. John Alefs-Joe Rothwell 73-76-72—221; 7. Mike Gibson-Patrick Anderson 70-71-82—223; 8. Rick Albrecht-Mark Runge 70-79-79—228; 9. Rick Mullen-Bruce Lyon 73-76-81—230; 10. Scott Kailer-Randy Chippeaux 75-77-82—234.

This story was originally published April 30, 2019 at 2:40 AM.