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06/30/2006Great ScottHebert wins his 6th Michigan Open
Scott Hebert has won the Michigan PGA Men's Open six of the 12 times he has played in it. ACME — Now that title No. 6 is secure, how many more times can Scott Hebert win the Michigan Open? Five-time winner Randy Erskine thinks it could be plenty. "The best news for Scott — he's now a head pro," Erskine said of Hebert, who became head golf professional at Grand Traverse Resort just a week before winning the Open on Thursday. "This is a great spot to be a head pro and win six tournaments. I don't see anything stopping him. "I think he's got a long future ahead. He may win double figures." Hebert took control of the tournament with a 5-under 67 on Wednesday, then practically put it out of reach with an eagle-birdie combination early in Thursday's final round on The Bear. His 2-under 70 left him at 12-under 275 for the tournament, four strokes ahead of second-place Brian Stuard of Jackson. "I guess I'm still young enough that maybe I can win another one if they keep it here," said Hebert, 37. "It's a good fit for me." Of Erskine's comments, Hebert said: "I guess I'd like to agree with him and thank him for the compliment." Hebert, who was awarded a $13,000 winner's check, is now tied with Al Watrous for the most victories in Open history. He has won half of the 12 Opens that he has played in. Since tying for 11th place in his first Michigan Open in 1995, Hebert has never finished worse than fourth. He came close to winning twice more, losing by a stroke to Steve Brady in 1996 and falling to Jeff Roth in a playoff in 1998. His tournament average is 7-under. "It really hasn't sunk it yet," Hebert said of tying Watrous, one of the state's top golfers in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. "It's an amazing feat. I'm awfully proud of that. If I never win another one, I'll still go down in history for that. "It never gets old hat. If I could win one more it would be something really special. But six is a pretty good number." Hebert eagled the par-5 third hole on Thursday, then birdied the par-3 fourth. After a bogey on No. 6 "woke me back up again," Hebert birdied Nos. 8 and 9 to get to minus-14 for the tournament. "It was about protection after that," he said. "I got a little tentative with the putter." Hebert bogeyed two holes down the stretch, but none of his challengers stepped up to close the gap. Stuard fired a 5-under 67, but that wasn't enough to catch Hebert. It was, however, enough to move him past Traverse City amateur Randy Hutchison into sole possession of second place. "You've got to take advantage of the par-5s," said Stuard, who birdied three par-5s and eagled the other on Thursday. "A couple of them played downwind today, so that helped out." The 23-year-old Stuard was Mid-Continent Player of the Year last year while playing for Oakland University. He is currently playing on the Hooters Tour after turning pro last fall. Ann Arbor's Scott Hayes, who led the first two rounds, tied Hutchison for third at 7-under 280 and received $8,500. Hutchison won low-amateurs honors (see related story). Colby Beckstrom of Muskegon (71) and John Koskinen of Baraga (72) tied for fifth at 5-under 282. Three players shared seventh place at 4-under 283 — Manistee National's Ian Ziska (72), East Lansing's Korey Mahoney (69) and Ann Arbor amateur Frank McAuliffe IV (71). A total of 18 players finished the tournament under par, an Open record.
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