Match Play Bracket Set In Tennessee Four-Ball Championship

There is a fine line between peaking too early in stroke play qualifying versus holding back some birdies for match play when it comes to ultimately winning the Tennessee Four-Ball Championship.

It’s nice to have bragging rights as the top seed among the 16 teams that march onward into match play, but history has proven that claiming medalist honors is anything but a reliable indicator of who will walk away with the crown.

Over the past 15 years, only twice has the twosome that won the stroke play qualifying emerged to claim the championship. In fact, of the 25 pairings that have won at least a share of medalist laurels since 2010, just five teams managed to even make it to the championship match. Only Jack Smith and Ryan Greer in 2021 along with Lee Maxwell and Wes Korth in 2013 were able to double-dip as co-medalists and tournament champions during that time.

It’s comparable to the quirky statistic that no winner of the Par 3 Contest has ever gone on to win the Masters Tournament in the same year. Go figure…it’s the curious nature of golf.

However, the ominous history lesson didn’t deter the two teams that tied for stroke play honors this year. In fact, they were just a group of guys enjoying rounds of golf where they play regularly on their home course at The Country Club in Morristown, posting two-day totals of 15-under 129 to share the top spot.

PJ Smith and Andrew Price of Morristown shot 32 on both nines to card an 8-under 64 on Tuesday, highlighted by a pair of eagles that helped them earn the top seed entering match play. Price made a deuce on the 360-yard, par-4 sixth hole, while Smith recorded a 3 on the par-5 third.

Joining them at 15-under after tallying a round of 5-under 67 was the team of Lucas Tabor of Talbott and Boddie Bible of Newport. While they were unable to repeat their opening round 62, Tabor did bag four birdies to lead his side to finish as co-medalist and the No. 2 seed.

Casen Justice of Selmer and partner Carson Andreoni of Jackson finished third at 13-under 131. Bogeys on their final two holes cost them a share of the overall lead, finishing the day at 5-under 67.

The tandem of Johnson City’s Jack Rhea and Lawrence Largent from Kingsport made the biggest move of the day, posting 11-under 61 on Tuesday after opening with 72, good for a two-day total of 11-under 133. Birdies on their first seven holes led to a front nine score of 29 to move them into a tie for 4^th with Kevin Campbell of Morristown and Alex Gaetz of Clinton.

The Knoxville combo of Jacob Rose and Tate Woodruff joined Andrew Hall of Maryville and Cody Johnson of Knoxville in a tie for 6^th at 10-under 134.

The Round of 16 matches in the 55^th edition of this tournament will take place Wednesday morning, followed by the quarterfinals in the afternoon. Thursday will feature both the semifinals and the championship final.

The Round of 16 pairings with seedings are:

(1) PJ Smith/Andrew Price vs. (16) Cash Hendon/Alex Hamm

(2) Lucas Tabor/Boddie Bible vs. (15) Andrew Poore/Todd Ricker

(3) Casen Justice/Carson Andreoni vs. (14) Rafael Jackson/Ryan Kragel

(4) Lawrence Largent/Jack Rhea vs. (13) J.J. Fought/Garrett Marschke

(5) Kevin Campbell/Alex Gaetz vs. (12) Bryce Kendrick/Josh Wheeler

(6) Jacob Rose/Tate Woodruff vs. (11) Chas Narramore/Jack Smith

(7) Cody Johnson/Andrew Hall vs. (10) Charlie Ramsay/Philip Breeding

(8) Jaxon Reed/Mitchell Strickland vs. (9) Eric Russell/Brent McMahan

For complete results, go to Tennessee Four-Ball.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com