Page 6 - The National Invitational Championship V2

he was also aware of how the Kingsport course could become resistant.
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The 7 round was uneventful. Carpenter lost a stoke while Davis and
Reeves maintained the previous pace with duplicate 28s.

The last round of the tournament was closely watched due to the
comfortable lead for Davis, in case he faltered. Carpenter and Davis
went through the first six holes at even par. Reeves posted a 3 under on
the front nine. Reeves then aced 10 and 11 to go five under. As Davis

waited to play hole 7, he was watching Reeves play hole 12 unaware that
Reeves was just 1 down at
this point. The twelfth hole
is a maddening drop off
hole. At times, when the

ball drops from the
ascending part of the hole
and to the lower level, it
would unexpectedly jump

left at times and cause the
ball to lip the hole or miss
completely. Maintaining a
firm pace would help keep
the ball online. Reeves Ricky Schults receiving a favorable drop on #12.

played the hole with
perfection. His line was accurate, his speed was firm, but the ball
jumped left. Davis was watching but knew not of the critical moment in
the championship. Reeves made his par putt. Davis made holes 7 and 8

to extend his lead to 3 strokes with nine holes remaining. Reeves made
holes 13, 16, and 17 to finish with a total of 221 strokes for his 8 rounds.
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Davis aced 10, 11, 12, 14 & 15 to claim his 5 major title. However, one
should not believe that Davis was not a bit concerned with the
development of the last round. On hole 13, Davis was able to check
Reeves’ score as Reeves was playing hole 16. It was then that Davis

knew he could attain the title if he finished without making a mistake…of
which he easily accomplished.