Phillip Eich Wins Public Links
After shooting a final-round 71, Phillip Eich of Altamonte Springs had to defeat Tampa's Todd Martin on the third playoff hole to win the Florida State Public Links Championship at the 6815 yard, par 72 Falcon's Fire Golf Club on Sunday.
Eich had shot a first-round 73, while Martin stood at even-par. During the final round, they passed Maitland's David Sutton and Orlando's Mickey Novack, the first-round co-leaders who shot 71's, and ended up tied at even-par after 36 holes. It took three more holes to determine a champion. Both parred the first two playoff holes -- the par-3 15th and the par-4 16th. The third playoff hole was the par-4 17th. Eich parred, while Martin made a 7.
Tampa's Ty Harris was one behind the leaders to stand in third place, while last year's champion, James Taylor Jr. of Plant City, shot 76-71--147 to finish in a tie for 4th. First round leaders Sutton and Novack both closed with 78's to finish in a 5-way tie for 8th place.
Eich finished 4th in last year's event. He was the first round co-leader last year, but faltered with a final-round 74. This year he redeemed himself and claimed his first state championship.
The Florida State Public Links Championship is the 11th of 16 state championships conducted annually by the Florida State Golf Association.
