Johnson and Onkka Putt Their Way to Early Lead at MGA Four-Ball

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  LE SUEUR, Minn. – An eagle on their opening hole and a birdie at the last helped Joel B. Johnson and Blake Onkka to a round of 7-under 63 Tuesday at Le Sueur Country Club to begin the 61st Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

“It was an amazing start,” said Johnson, who was battling a neck injury during his round Tuesday. “I started making a lot of putts out there. It’s a birdie game—if you make birdies you’ve got a chance.”

Johnson and Onkka will advance to Thursday’s final round along with the top-11 teams, plus ties, teams from Tuesday’s first round. The top-25 teams, plus ties, from Wednesday’s round will also advance to the final round Thursday.

Reaching the green with his second shot at the par-5 first, Onkka rolled in a 20-footer for eagle to quickly move to 2-under for the day before a bogey at the seventh.

Johnson took control on the putting surface from there, sinking back-to-back birdie chances at the eighth and ninth to help put his team at 3-under with nine to play.

Sticking his approach inside of six feet at the 10th, Johnson rolled in his fourth birdie of the round before dropping another birdie chance at the 12th to get to 5-under.

Johnson and Onkka each two-putted for birdie at the 16th, and Johnson would add a final birdie to the scorecard at the last, sinking a 20-footer to help take the clubhouse lead at 7-under 63.

“Joel made every birdie putt that he had, and made the putts you’re supposed to make,” Onkka said following his round Tuesday.

After posting a 64 to begin the 2019 championship at The Classic at Madden’s, Johnson and Onkka played in the final group one shot back of the lead, but would card a 2-under 70 on the final day to finish in a tie for second, the twosome’s best showing at the event.

Johnson and Onkka pieced together a final-round 65 to come up four strokes short of last year’s champions Nick Jarrett and Matthew Norgaard at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club, shooting 7-under 135.

Despite carding a trio of bogeys during their round Tuesday, the pairing of Jordan Barto and Ken Basten fired a 4-under 66 to finish the opening day of competition in second place, three shots off the lead.

“We knew we were going to count some bogeys—we figured we would. So we just tried to make some birdies and we did,” Basten said Tuesday. “You know that there are bogeys if you’re not careful, especially with how it’s set up.”

“We just want to have fun and hopefully make some birdies,” Barto said. “If we shoot another three or 4-under round and within a couple, we’ll be in it. In my mind, I thought we could be between 67 and 69 today and we were at 66. It could’ve been better, but it also could’ve been worse.”

Turning in 2-under Tuesday, Basten hit his tee shot to 10 feet at the par-3 10th and converted his birdie chance to put the two at 3-under.

The two would give back a stroke with a bogey at the 11th, But Basten quickly turned things around by sinking his eagle putt from 30 feet at the 12th to reach 4-under for the round.

Bouncing back from a bogey at the 14th, Barto hit his approach inside of four feet at the 16th to put the two into the clubhouse in second place with a 4-under 66.

Andy Stahlman and Alex Wallerich combined to shoot a 3-under 67 Tuesday to finish the first 18 holes in a share of third with South Dakota State golfer Will Frazier and partner Owen Rexing.

Among Tuesday's opening-round hightlights, James Gempeler recorded the first hole-in-one of his career at the 181-yard 15th, using a 7-iron. Gempeler and partner Brady Hoffman finished the round in a tie for eighth at 1-under 69.

The 61st MGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship continues Wednesday when the second wave of the field plays its opening round beginning at 8 a.m. at Le Sueur Country Club.