Red-hot Crawford wins Major Series of Putting stroke play championship

Aspiring PGA Tour player Aaron Crawford scorched the back nine in the final round with seven birdies over the final eight holes to win the Major Series of Putting stroke play championship at Legacy Golf Club.

Crawford, 24, a mini-tour golfer from Alberta, Canada, finished the six-round tournament at 41-under 175 and defeated Benjamin Geyer by 4 strokes, winning $25,000.

Throughout the tournament, Crawford was on fire, setting the putting course record of 8-under 28 in round one and matching that score in rounds two, five and six.

“It was a little crazy because I didn’t get off to the greatest start in the final round,” Crawford said. “I think I had a two-stroke lead going in, but that disappeared pretty quick. I started dropping some putts on the back nine and they kept going in. I just stuck to my routine because that’s what I did for the first five rounds, but then had kind of a different mentality on the front nine. I started to slowly change it as I went to the back nine.

“This is huge. It shows me that I am able to putt with some of the best in the world. As a touring pro trying to make the PGA Tour, that’s a pretty good feeling.”

Former UNLV golfer Taylor Montgomery was unable to defend his title, but was 12 under during the final two rounds and finished tied for eighth after making the fourth-round cut right on the number at 18 under. Prior to the first round on Wednesday, Montgomery successfully qualified for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open qualifier to be held Monday at Boulder Creek.

“I love putting in this, but that’s the beautiful thing about putting; no matter how well you putt you can be beat and even if you hit good putts, they don’t always go in,” Montgomery said. “Everybody knows about that.

“My speed was a little off yesterday because I played in the Shriners pre-qualifier so I didn’t get an official practice round out here and the practice green was a little slower than the actual course. I felt like I did a really good job adjusting and giving myself a chance, but these guys are putting so well they were going to be tough to beat.”

The Major Series of Putting continues through Sunday at Legacy with the mini turbo and turbo singles followed by the team championship, which Montgomery won in 2017 with fellow UNLV golfer Kurt Kitayama.

Freelance writer Brian Hurlburt can be reached at bhurlburt5@gmail.com or @LVGolfInsider.