It was a family affair on Sunday afternoon as Casey Wittenberg became the second two-time Chitimacha Louisiana Open champion, after winning it back in 2012. Having his father, former LSU Tiger Jimmy Wittenberg made the victory a little bit sweeter.
“This one is a little bit more special for me. I’m married now and my dad was here. It was just fun to have them around.”
This is coming at a good time for him as in the first three events of the Web.com tour; he hadn’t finished inside the top 40. In fact, he ended the 2016 season one spot out of the tour finals.
“That was disheartening. I’ve been in that moment also missed “Q” School this year by a shot,” Wittenberg said of his finish to 2016. “That Portland deal is rough because we all have 30 minute waits on that last tee. It’s golf, you’re going to make mistakes but all in all I was fortunate enough to get into some of these first couple events and come back here where I’ve played really good. My game is trending up, I didn’t expect this but I knew I could keep the ball in front of me.”
The Memphis native never played for the Tigers like his father, but the area feels like a second home to him. “I grew up coming down here to Baton Rouge watching the Tigers play; this is like a second home for me. I feel comfortable down here. I love the culture and I love the people. Obviously it shows because of how well I’ve played here.”
While it looked like a battle for second place as Wittenberg got his final round started, the road to winning it all got a little tougher with Adam Long and Aaron Wise having great final rounds.
Long came from out of nowhere with a strong front nine that was highlighted by an eagle on the seventh hole, a par-five.
“The eagle on seven was about 50 to 60 feet” The St. Louis native said. “It was just one of those putts you just hit and try to lag up there close. That was pretty sweet.” His performance was good enough for fourth place.
However, Long wasn’t the only to get an eagle on the seventh hole on the final day as rookie Aaron Wise accomplished the same feat twice, hitting an eagle on the 1st hole.
“I play the par fives really well normally and I hadn’t this week so I made it a point to get out there and I think I played 6 under on par fives. I made up some shots which was awesome and that helps you take it out low here.” The former Oregon Duck ended his day in third place.
Xinjun Zhang also had a good performance throughout his final round and ended up 18 under and credited it to staying positive.
“His drives off the tee were really good today.” Zhang said through his translator, “His long putts were there, lagging it up to the hole. Today the main thing was to keep a positive outlook throughout the day.”
The Web.com Tour will take the next three weeks off before returning to action in Evansville, Indiana.
-Clint Domingue