Top 4 seeds all win in Masters Division

Elton seeks fourth title

By Al Edenloff Alexandria Echo Press

Everything went according to the seedings in the Resorters Men’s Masters Championship bracket Thursday.

The top four golfers all advanced into the semifinals, including medalist Jon Empanger, defending champion Dan Elton, two-time runner-up Norty Blanchard and last year’s runner-up Tom Ryan.

The final four will teeit up Friday at 12:10 p.m. from No. 1. In the meantime, here’s a look at Thursday’s results.

Empanger def.

Sauer, 5-4

Empanger struck for three straight wins in the early going that lifted him to a 5-4 victory over Ray Sauer.

The streak began on No. 3 when Empanger made par and he also picked up wins on No. 4 with par and No. 5 with birdie. The match settled down as they halved the next four holes, going par, bogey, par, par.

Ahead by three at the turn, Empanger kept rolling, nailing par wins on Nos. 10 and 11 to go 5-up. Sauer picked up his first win of the match, a nice birdie on No. 12 but Empanger came right back with a birdie win on the par-3 13th to go back to 5-up.

Pars by both men on No. 14 ended the match.

Empanger will tangle with the fourth-seeded Ryan Friday afternoon.

Ryan def.

Arnold, 5-4

The Tom Ryan-Jim Arnold match looked like it was going to go down to the wire after the first nine holes.

Arnold took the first lead with a bogey on No. 3 and he held the slim lead until the 7th hole when Ryan made par to even the match. Ryan then moved out front with a par win on No. 8 and they both carded 4s on No. 9.

The back nine belonged to Ryan. He won Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 14, all of them with pars, which gave him a 5-4 victory.

Ryan will have his hands full Friday when he takes on medalist Empanger.

Elton def. Johnson, 8-7

Elton, the division’s winner in 2016, 2017 and 2020, continues to look unstoppable in the tournament. He needed just 13 holes to defeat his opponent in the opening round Wednesday. On Thursday, he needed just 12.

His opponent, Randy Johnson, the division’s 2018 champion, just couldn’t get anything going against the defending champ. Johnson shot nothing but 5s on the first seven holes and Elton took advantage, winning six of them, all but No. 2, and carding three pars, a birdie and an eagle on No. 6, along the way. His only miscue of the day was a bogey on No. 7, but it was good enough to win the hole.

Johnson won one hole, a birdie on No. 8, but it was too little, too late and Elton coasted to an 8-7 win.

Elton will take on Blanchard Friday – a rematch from their 2017 championship final that Elton won, 1-up.

Blanchard def.

Seashore,

4-2

The shootout between Blanchard and Gene Seashore was the bracket’s closest match of the day and wasn’t decided until the 16th hole.

The match went backand-forth on the front nine. Blanchard surged out front with wins on No. 1 (birdie) and No. 3 (par). Seashore bounced back with a par win on No. 4 but Blanchard countered with a clutch birdie on No. 5. Seashore came back again with a birdie on No. 6 to draw within one. Unfazed, Blanchard won Nos. 8 and 9 with pars to take a 3-up lead at the turn.

The match fell into a staring contest at that point as they halved the next three holes. Seashore finally broke through with a par win on No. 13 to get within two but Blanchard birdied the par-5 14th to extend his lead. After pars on No. 15, Blanchard put the match away with a par win on No. 16.