GOLF TRANS-MISSISSIPPI : McClung Rebounds in Victory

After coming from behind twice, Mike McClung staggered through the final two holes, playing well enough to add his name to a trophy alongside those of Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Deane Beman and George Archer, among others.

The award is symbolic of the championship of the Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur Championship golf tournament, a match-play event McClung won Saturday at Lakeside Country Club by closing out Mike Kiley on the 18th hole of the finals with a 20-foot putt for par.

“The putt on 18 was about the only one I made all week,” said McClung, 35, from Dallas, who was consistently longer off the tee than Kiley. “. . . (Kiley) made the long putts, which kept him close.”

It was the 88th renewal of the tournament, in which McClung fell behind early, rallied to tie on the fifth hole; fell back again, this time by two holes, and rallied to tie on the 10th; and took the lead for good on the 16th.

Kiley, from Manayunk, Pa., and McClung halved the 17th hole with bogeys, and McClung looked to be in trouble on the par-four 18th, hitting into the trees off the tee.

Not to worry.

“I just hit an easy five-iron out of the trees, then a full wedge from about 105 yards out over the other trees,” McClung said.

His 20-foot par putt rendered a three-foot Kiley putt for par moot.

The key, said McClung, was the ninth hole, a 240-yard, par-three that he parred to Kiley’s bogey. That brought McClung to one-down.

“My caddie and I had a talk . . . which made me feel better about the match,” McClung said. “The turnaround was at nine. That’s when I became aggressive.”

He birdied the 10th with a 10-foot putt to make the match even.

McClung went one-up on the 13th with a par, getting up and down from a bunker. Kiley overshot the green on his second and third shots.

Kiley came back to tie with a par on the 14th and they halved the 15th.

McClung took the lead for good with a par on the 16th hole. Kiley bogeyed the hole when his drive fell behind a tree on the left side of the fairway and his second shot failed to clear the rough.

Kiley acknowledged his errors and what they cost.

“I’ve been fighting a hook for a while. It’s been my nuisance all week,” he said. “These guys out here are like piranhas. You can’t make many mistakes. . . . They’ll eat you up.”