Randal Lewis drove the par-4 31st hole and had a two-putt birdie to take a commanding 4-up lead with five holes to play against Kenny Cook. Cook bogeyed the hole and now will have to dig deep to rally against the steady 54-year-old Lewis, who has played like a 25-year-old this week. If he wins this match, he will have defeated the No. 1 seed (Mike McCaffrey), the No. 5 seed (two-time defending champion Nathan Smith) and the No. 6 seed (Kenny Cook).
On the flip side, the only single-digit seed Cook has faced this week was John Engler (No. 2) in the semifinals.
But as they say, you can only play who is in front of you and up until now, Cook has been impressive against his five previous opponents. He had trailed for only one hole all week (80 holes) prior to the championship match. He has not had a lead against Lewis and has been all square for just two holes since the opening tee shot at 7:30 a.m.