Ninety Six, SC – Scott Weatherly of Fort Payne, AL stood on the 18th green of The Patriot Golf Club with two putts to collect his first career eGolf Tour win. A simple lag to a foot or so would have been just fine, but a tentative first effort left him with 4 feet for his first tour title. Calm nerves and years of experience took over from there and allowed the good-natured Southerner to capitalize on his opportunity, giving him the inaugural Grand Harbor Open title and the $34,427 first-place prize.

Weatherly, 32, began the final round in a tie for the 54-hole lead with tour newcomer Jesse Mueller of Mesa, AZ. The two had shared the 36-hole lead and matched rounds of 67 on Friday to maintain their share of the lead at 17-under heading into Saturday's final round in Ninety Six, SC.

Scott WeatherlyOn the outward nine of the Davis Love III-designed course, Weatherly took control early with birdies on three of his first eight holes to open a two-shot cushion on Mueller, who played the same stretch in 1-under par. At the par-4 ninth, Weatherly would record his first bogey of the day after hitting his approach into the water. A birdie by Mueller at the same hole would bring the two back to even, at 19-under for the event with just nine holes to play.

A birdie by Weatherly at the par-4 11th was matched by a Mueller birdie at the short par-4 12th, and then the first untimely hiccup of the day came at the par-5 13th. Mueller hit his third shot from 75 yards to the back of the green and left himself a delicate 40-foot birdie putt, which he would three putt to drop one back of Weatherly.

"We were going toe to toe for most of the day, but when Jesse bogeyed 13, it kind of opened things up for me," said Weatherly.

The next two holes would be key for the former Auburn University standout, as up-and-down saves on 14 and 15 allowed Weatherly to maintain his one-shot advantage with three holes to play.

"The shot of the day for me was on 14. I hit my approach into the bunker and hit my bunker shot to 12 feet, leaving a pretty big right-to-left swinging par putt," Weatherly said. "That caught the side door and went in to keep the round going. It was huge."

Both players pared 16 and 17, setting up a dramatic finish at the arduous par-4 18th, which measures 450 yards and requires players to fit a blind tee shot between two gaping fairway bunkers flanking the fairway.

"It's a tough tee shot, if you push it or pull it a little bit you're going to find yourself in one of those bunkers," said Weatherly, who admittedly struggled with his driver for the better part of a month. "I just striped it down the middle. It was by far my best tee shot of the week."

After Mueller's approach found the grass lip of the greenside bunker, Weatherly stood over a 6-iron from 178 yards and hit his second shot to the middle left of the green, in turn leaving himself 40 feet from the back right hole location.

Jesse Mueller"Once I saw Jesse short and right of the green, I knew birdie would be tough, so I just wanted to hit it on the green and two putt," said Weatherly. "I left my first putt 4 feet short because I thought it would be quicker coming down the hill."

When Mueller's chip narrowly missed the hole, Weatherly indeed left his approach putt alarmingly short and set up a knee knocking putt for the win. After suffering through 41 starts on tour without a win, Weatherly made the 42nd count when he drilled the winning putt in the back of the cup. A relieved Weatherly took his cap off, waived to the crowd, and immediately showed an appreciation for just how tough it can be to win in golf.

"Winning a golf tournament is hard to do. The way I look at it is, you could be the best player in a 100-man field, but if one of those 100 guys beats you, you're not going to win," said Weatherly, who ousted 203 other professionals to claim the title in the $235,000 event. "You have to have everything line up and go your way."

After finishing his Auburn career in the summer of 2000, Weatherly bounced around the mini-tours before earning his Nationwide Tour card at Q-School in the fall of 2004. A final-round 76 at Q-School unfortunately altered his plans for a PGA TOUR card, but nevertheless gave him full status on the country's second-best tour. From 2004 through 2007, Weatherly competed in 74 Nationwide Tour events, with his best finish being a playoff loss at the 2005 Chattanooga Classic. During that 2005 season, he finished 40th on the money list with earnings of $127,158.

He has not played in a Nationwide Tour event since the end of 2007, but has tried various Monday qualifiers with little success in and around full seasons on the eGolf Tour.

"I did some Monday qualifying in 2008 and 2009, but haven't done a lot this year," Weatherly said. "It's one of those deals where I never shot over 70, but I never shot anything lower than 68 or 67. It seemed as if I always missed by a shot or two."

When Weatherly came to the eGolf Tour at the close of the 2007 season, he instantly became one of the tour's most consistent players. In his first 35 starts (2007-2009), Weatherly made 34 of 35 cuts and collected 12 top-10 finishes, all without a single win. His best finish during that stretch came at the 2009 River Run Championship, where he finished T2 – five shots shy of champion Kyle Dobbs.

Brian HarmanThe victory was Weatherly's third top-5 of the season and continued the solid play that developed after missing two of his first three cuts of the year. With the win, he moved up to No. 4 on the 2010 money list with earnings of $53,605.

Mueller earned $17,202 for his runner-up effort at The Patriot. The former Arizona State University star was making the first start of his eGolf Tour career after collecting three wins on Arizona-based mini tours earlier in the year.

Finishing four shots behind Weatherly was the foursome of Mike Welch, Brian Harman, Tommy Biershenk and Matt Hughes, who all finished the event at 16-under 269 in a tie for third, earning $10,134 for their efforts.

Harman, a two-time Walker Cup standout and former No. 1-ranked junior in the world, created some ripples early on Saturday when he birdied five of his first 11 holes to get to 17-under for the event, within shouting distance of Weatherly and Mueller. A closing stretch of six pars, punctuated by a bogey at the 18th, dropped the former University of Georgia All-American out of the mix and into a tie for third.

In his first full season on the eGolf Tour, Harman has been a study in consistency with four top-5 finishes in just six starts. He is currently No. 5 on the 2010 money list with earnings of $53,044 and is the only player inside the top nine without a win.

Scotland's Russell Knox, who captured the season-opening Palmetto Hall Championship in February, posted rounds of 68-69-64-69—270 to finish solo seventh and collect $6,697 in just his second start of the year.

The shot of the day came from former USC-Aiken golfer Ryan Dillon, who recorded the 10th hole-in-one of his career when he aced the 138-yard par-3 seventh with a 9-iron in the final round. Dillon, who carded a 4-under 67 on Saturday, estimated that it had been at least four years since his last hole-in-one.

• A special thanks goes to The Patriot G.C. Head Golf Professional Tommy Thomas, The G.C. at Star Fort Head Golf Professional Tommy Pendley, and their respective staffs for coordinating this event and hosting the tour and our players for the week. Thank you to The Patriot Head Golf Course Superintendent Gary Jones, Star Fort Head Golf Course Superintendent Tom Taylor, and their crews for their work on both courses this week. Last but not least, thank you to the members of The Patriot and Star Fort for allowing the tour to use your golf courses for the week.

• The tour will move north to Conover, NC next week for the inaugural HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn on June 2-5. A full field of 204 players will compete for an estimated purse of $235,000 on the Jones and Jackson courses at Rock Barn Club & Spa.