By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
What was essentially a “home game” for Mark Anderson nearly resulted in a return to the winner’s circle.
Anderson carded three rounds in the 60s before closing with a 71 Sunday on the Deer Creek Golf Course at Savannah’s Landings Club, settling for a runner-up finish in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Club Car Championship.
Anderson had a one-shot lead over Ryan Blaum going into the final round, and the two battled back and forth until both birdied the last to finish at 16 under.
In came Vogel, who carded a scorching 31 on his front nine, sparking the hot start with an opening birdie and an eagle at the par-5 third before stringing together three straight birdies starting at No. 5 to get to 6-under through seven holes. He gave one back at the ninth, then alternated bogeys and birdies from No. 13 through No. 16 before steadying himself with two pars to close out the one-shot win.
Vogel outplayed Anderson by four shots on Sunday, firing a 5-under 67 while Anderson had a bumpy ride to a closing 71. After a birdie at the par- 3 second hole, Anderson closed out his front nine with bogeys on three of his last four holes, mitigated by a birdie at the par-4 seventh.
The Beaufort Academy alumnus seemed to have righted the ship when he made consecutive birdies to start his back nine and added a third at the par-4 13th, but back-to-back bogeys at 16 and 17 derailed his hopes of his first Korn Ferry Tour victory since 2019, even after his sixth birdie of the day on the par-5 closing hole.
Anderson is off to a strong start in 2022, having made three straight cuts after failing to do so in his first two starts on the Korn Ferry Tour with a pair of top-25 finishes. He ranks 21st on the money list ($74,760) and 20th on the season-long points list.
