Andrew Landry and his golf clubs will be in Wichita this week playing in the Web.com Tour’s Air Capital Classic, but his thoughts will no doubt periodically drift to the U.S. Open being contested in Wisconsin.
Andrew, of course, took the golf world by storm 12 months ago at Oakmont, leading the Open after day one with a 66. He played well enough over the next 36 holes to be in the final pairing on Sunday, just as Marty Fleckman had been some 49 years earlier.

However, a tough opening nine led to a 78 and a 15th-place finish.

That Thursday 66, as most folks around here should remember, was the lowest score ever shot in an Open first round at historic Oakmont. Landry got his 15 minutes of fame and then some with his impressive play, but the downer was not finishing in the top 10 and getting an exemption into this year’s tourney.

He had planned to try to make it back to the Open through Sectional Qualifying last Monday in Memphis, but got sabotaged by events out of his control. Flight issues in Raleigh, N.C., after a Web.com event last Sunday, created a situation where he couldn’t get into Memphis until 4 a.m.

With a 7:30 a.m. tee time, he made the logical decision and withdrew.

Playing 36 holes on no sleep just made no sense.

“We had a big tournament coming up later in the week in Chicago and I wanted to be well rested,” Landry said Monday from Wichita. “I have been playing well and thought I would have a chance to win.”

Landry didn’t win that Rust-Oleum Championship but he was in position to do so until slipping to a final round 74. That left him tied for fourth after earlier rounds of 68-67-72.

He earned $24,800 and solidified his hold on third place on the Web.com money list. Only Rust-Oleum champ Stephen Jaeger ($247,860) and Andrew Putnam ($228,495) have banked more than Andrew’s haul of $212,854.

“I got a little too aggressive early in the round and made a couple of unfortunate errors,” Landry said. “But it was a nice paycheck and a good week, despite what happened Monday.”

Landry was also upbeat over his Port Neches-Groves Indians winning the 5A baseball championship on Saturday.

“I got to watch a little of it on Facebook,” he said. “I was really happy to see the Indians win another state championship.”

CHIP SHOTS

Just when it looked like the St. Jude Classic in Memphis might be a turning point in Chris Stroud’s season, a poor weekend performance left the PNG ex with more frustration. After rounds of 68-67 put him in position for a high top 10 finish, Stroud slumped to 73-75 and tumbled to a tie for 65th.

Desperately in need of moving up the Fed Ex Cup points list, he dropped four places from 146 to 150. A check for $13,504 was probably little consolation …

Brendan Marley of Nederland fired a 78 Tuesday at Bayou Din Golf Club to win the Boys Gold Flight in the Beltway Junior Tour tournament at Bayou Din.

Marley was a nine-shot winner over Paul Muse of Port Arthur.

Other winners were Preston Ricks of Lumberton (81 in Boys Silver), Makenna Henry of Sour Lake (99 in Girls Diamond), Tatum Bean of Groves (37 in Girls Pearl, 9 hole modified) and Waylon Brooks of China (27 in Ruby/Iron, 5 hole modified …

Weather continued to plague the STPGA Junior Tour on Monday, limiting the tournament at Brentwood Country Club to nine holes. Brendan Marley won Boys 15-18 with a 36, Shelley Johnson took Girls 15-18 with a 56 and Reece Frank and Micah Depew shot 44s to tie for first in Boys 13-14.

In Junior Links play, Lane Bevilacqua won Boys 13-14 with a 49. The Little Linksters Division saw Xander Parks finish first in Boys 11-12 Red with a 42, Lincoln Parks win Boys 9-10 Modified with a 37 and Montana DiLeo take Girls 11-12 Red with a 49.

Tatum Bean won Girls 9-10 Modified with a 53, Foster Cecka finished on top in Co-Ed 6-8 with a 46 and Reagon Frank was first in Boys 9-10, 5 holes Modified with a 25. Ava Borne won Girls 9-10, 5 holes with a 29 and Logan Anderson took first in Co-Ed 6-8, 5 holes modified with a 27.

Next event is the June 19-20 Bruce Lietzke Invitational at Idylwild Golf Club. Deadline for entering is today, with a late deadline of Thursday …

In the Senior 50 Plus 2 ball game Monday at Babe Zaharias, the trio of Adam Noel, Bob Luttrull and Dillard Darbonne won the front in minus 4. On the back, the foursome of Gary Whitfill, John House, Lee Bertrand and Paul Duplantis finished first with minus 3 …

The Saturday Senior 2 ball at Zaharias, saw the team of Tim Turner, James Shipley, Gene Jones and a ghost player take the front in minus 4. On the back, the team of Joe Gongora, Rick Pritchett, Don MacNeil and Dan Flood prevailed with minus 6 …

On Friday, the foursome of Butch Pittman, Jim Mercer, Gene Hardy and Larry Foster combined for minus 4 to win the 2 ball on the front. The back ended in a tie at minus 2 between the team of Pritchett, Jones, Harry Green and Roger Baumer and the team of Noel, MacNeil, Wes McDonald and Dan Flood …

The Thursday Senior 55 Plus Game at Zaharias was played in a flighted best ball with handicap format. In First Flight, Earl Richard and Bim Morrow tied with 69s. There was also a deadlock in Second Flight between Raymond Darbonne and Bob Barnes. They shot 71.

Dan Flood captured Third Flight with a 69, finishing four clear of four players. Closest to the pin winners were Barnes (No. 2), Morrow (No. 7), Gary Fontenot (No. 12) and Kenny Robbins (No. 15) …

The Wednesday Zaharias Dogfight was won with 15 points by the team of Robbins, Larry Johnson, Rodney Christman and Harold Wilkerson. Second with 14 points was the foursome of Whitfill, Tom LeTourneau, Don Duplan and Jess McPhillips.

Closest to the pin winners were LeTourneau (No. 2), Craig Fontenot (No. 7), Whitfill (No. 12) and Cap Hollier (No. 15).
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