June 15, 2007

JACKSON, MI — Mark Wray, who did not want to talk about practice, lost the 2007 Carl Spackler Open Championship in Michigan last weekend. He took last place by 4 points with 85 points.

"I opened with 100 strokes and looking backward made it worse," said Wray of his 54-hole effort. "Having my arm wedged under a flipped golf cart and sizzling on 200-degree blacktop did not help my cause, but not going to make excuses."

Wray came to Michigan averaging 8 pars and 1 birdie per round. He went home on Sunday with 17 pars and zero birdies.

"Skipping the practice round was my first mistake," said Wray. "Then I did not play well on Thursday and really could not break the sequence of events," said Wray. "When I woke up each morning, I was staring at Fowble. When I was stuck under a golf cart, I saw Fowble. When I needed some partners that played in a good rhythm on Saturday, I was once again paired with Fowble. I needed something positive to happen and Fowble was the opposite."

Tom Fowble, Wray's roommate, placed just 4 points better with 89 points. Fowble opened the tournament with a 47-over 119. He entered the tournament with a +11.5 stroke handicap.

Mark Wray did manage a respectable round with Greg Long, Jim English, and Chris Milam on Friday morning. "The music in Slick's cart allowed me to relax and play golf," said Wray of his 13-over 85. It was respectable, but almost everyone in the field had a birdie last week except me. I have no excuses for that statistic. It was the difference between opening my suitcase on Saturday morning and opening Trojanowski's outfit suitcase on Saturday."

Wray received 1 point for bogey, 3 points for par, and 9 points for birdie.

"I really enjoyed the tournament and looking forward to making adjustments for next year," said Wray. "I can assure you the Outfits were worn with class."

In related news, Jason Watson nearly wore the outfits last week. He tied Fowble with 89 points and second-to-last position in the finishing tournament field of 62.