Record-setter Alex Knoll hangs on, wins Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship

On Tuesday, Alex Knoll made the game of golf look so easy and effortless when he shattered the 78-year-old course record at the Union League at Torresdale previously owned by the legendary Sam Snead by firing an 8-under-par 62 in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship.

Two days later at the same venue, in the final round of the tournament, Knoll reminded everyone of how difficult golf can be, a grind that he called “probably the longest day in my professional history.”

However, Knoll managed to pull it together on the back nine and had just enough to finish the job, winning the 98th competition for Philadelphia Section PGA professionals by two strokes and pocketing a $9,500 first prize check from the $75,000 purse.

“Golf’s a funny game,” Knoll said Thursday after a 78 that did not include a single birdie after he had carded 10, plus an eagle, in the previous two rounds.

“From whatever was clicking the first two days didn’t feel comfortable today. I was looking at the green slopes way too much today. On Tuesday, I was hitting quality putts and quality shots. It was just survival out there.

“But in the end, as I was saying on my first tee shot on Tuesday, every birdie was an insurance shot and eventually you have to cash in, and I cashed in a lot today but I had a couple more to spare.”

Knoll, 34, an assistant pro at Glen Brook Golf Club who lives in Jim Thorpe, Pa., completed 54 holes at 2-under 209. Stonewall’s Ryan Lagergren, who played in the final group with Knoll, whittled what was once a five-shot deficit to two with birdies at the 10th and 11th holes but parred in and settled for second at 211 after a 74.

Travis Deibert of Doylestown shot a 71 for third place at 212 and Tom Cooper of Pine Valley tied for the best round of the day, a 67, for a 213 and fourth. University of Delaware assistant golf coach Brendon Post, who was in second place at the start of the day, had a 78 and tied Mark Sheftic (69) of Merion for fifth.

Knoll notched four bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine for a 40, although he said his 6-foot par putt at the difficult eighth hole settled him down a bit because “it came out of nowhere.”

He steadied himself on the back nine. His two bogeys came after he bunkered his tee shots on a pair of par 3’s, the 11th and 17th, but he brought it home on 18 after hitting his second shot over a tree and on the green. He 2-putted for what he described as “the biggest professional win of my career.”

“I kept thinking it was eventually going to have to turn in a positive direction at some point,” he said. “It kind of never did but you’ve just got to keep saying to yourself, ‘Hit a good drive, hit a good second and eventually a putt’s going to go in.’ Luckily, I didn’t have any more holes to play.”