There were many moments when Dylan Healey could’ve lost his composure on Sunday in the final round of the Navajo Trail Open at Hillcrest Golf Club in Durango, but instead, he’s $10,000 richer and a winner again.
The 32-year-old from Albuquerque living in Tucson has been through a lot in his golf career. He played professionally in Asia for years, played in Canada and played on the Korn Ferry Tour before falling off that tour.
Healey described himself as a hothead in the past, and there were times he could’ve let that old temper ruin his chances. Whether it was a missed 3-foot par putt on Hole 1, a short missed birdie putt on Hole 10, a chip that rolled off the green and led to a bogey on Hole 13, or a missed 2-foot par putt on Hole 15, Healey could’ve lost his head. But he didn’t.
The powerful lefty didn’t allow those poor moments or the stellar round of Wil Collins stop him. He bounced back with birdies on 14, 16 and 17 to be in position to get into a playoff. After Collins missed his par putt on 18, the playoff was on between the two seasoned pros, with the sudden-death playoff starting on Hole 18.
Healey smoked his drive down the center of the fairway. He found the green with his approach and two-putted for par. Once again, Collins couldn’t make his par putt on 18 and Healey became the champion of the 65th Navajo Trail Open.
“I hung in there,” Healey said. “I knew today was going to be a little tough. I played so well yesterday. It's hard to play that well two days in a row. I knew I had to chase, but also knew I had Wil and a couple other guys that are veterans in golf and around this course … I'm proud of how I just kept plugging along. I hit it pretty good … I kind of got knocked down today and really just stayed patient. I’m very proud of proud of the week.”
Healey won the Navajo Trail open after finishing the 54 holes at 9-under par. He played Sunday 2-under par to follow up a fantastic 7-under par Saturday and an even par Friday. It was Healey’s second time playing in the Navajo Trail Open. After playing around the world for the past decade, it was a special victory because it was one of the few times his mother and stepfather have seen him compete.
The former Division I golfer made a point of shouting out Hillcrest for its low entry fee to play in the Navajo Trail Open. Healey has seen how a lot of the mini-tour events are hard to afford if you have a couple of poor weeks, so he was thankful for all the sponsors and donations to the tournament.
Like most of the top pros in the Navajo Trail Open, Healey can crush the ball 300+ yards off the tee with his driver. But what makes his win even more impressive is that he put a new putter in the bag this week, going from a blade putter to a mallet.
“It was gusty,” Healey said about the conditions. “It would lay down and then really get up so you had to be patient and these greens are just such a test. They put pins that are absolutely crazy … You're going to get some weird spots, you're not going to be able to do anything about it. But you do have a lot of birdie chances.”
The leaderboard was a roller coaster at the top spot in the final group with Healey, Jones and Collins. Jones led for the entire front nine, and Collins seemingly came from out of nowhere to take the lead late in the round. But Healey had been putting in the work at his home course, and he feels like his game is in the best position it’s been in for a while. He’s headed to Laramie, Wyoming for the Laramie Open next weekend.
“I absolutely love this place,” Healey said. “I love Durango. The guys do a great job. They're so friendly and then the staff obviously does a great job getting the place set up. If I'm not on tour, I will be back 100%.”
While Healey felt the high of winning, Collins felt the crushing defeat. It must’ve been a mix of emotions for the three-time Navajo Trail Open winner. On one hand, Collins played phenomenally on Sunday, shooting 6-under par with a bogey on 18. Even without that bogey, Collins’ round could’ve been even better. He missed a 4-footer for par on Hole 1, he missed an uphill birdie putt on Hole 3 and had two bunker shots out of the greenside bunker on the scoreable 11th and made par.
Despite those misses, Collins’ driving and iron game were stellar, setting himself up for plenty of short birdie looks. This allowed him to take a one-shot lead at 10-under par going into the 18th, an incredible feat considering he was six shots behind 36-hole leader Connor Jones to start the day.
But all the work was undone on 18. He didn’t find the fairway and was short of the green with his approach on his 54th hole of the tournament. Getting up and down would’ve won him the tournament, but he raced his chip past the hole and left himself a 15-foot par putt that he missed.
In the playoff, he found the rough off the tee on 18, but stuck his approach shot to about 12 feet above the hole for birdie. He couldn’t get his birdie putt to stop, and Collins missed about a 4-footer up the hill to keep the playoff going.
“I was due for some breaks out there, and I got a few today,” Collins. “There was a chance if I posted a number, I could get back into contention. Unfortunately, I made two terrible mistakes out there in the 18th fairway, in regulation and in the playoff, hitting wedges, pull them both at the flag which left me open to that bogey … I'm proud of how I fought back today, but definitely a bitter ending with just a bonehead move.”
Collins was proud of the chip-in birdie he made on 13 and the birdies on nine, 16 and 17. He finished second at 9-under par, four shots clear of Connor Jones in second at 5-under par.
It was a tough end to Jones’ tournament, shooting a 4-over-40 on his final nine holes to drop out of the lead and into third. Jones looked rock solid on the front, playing a steady game, two-putting his way around the course and going 1-under on the front with eight pars and a birdie on the par-5 fourth.
But Jones’ short game failed him on the back. It started on 10 when he hit his second onto the fringe over the green on the par 5. He duffed his chip and missed his birdie, settling for par.
Then came two tough pitch shots out of the rough that led to a missed 13-foot par putt. Jones then missed a 3-footer for par on 12. He then pitched the ball back down the green on 15, leading to a missed 18-foot par putt uphill. Jones then pitched the ball onto the 17 green and couldn’t hold it, leading to bogey on the par 5 and taking him out of the tournament.
Behind Jones was Farmington’s Tony Mike Jr., who had a very entertaining round to watch, finishing 1-under par for Sunday and 4-under par for the tournament. He tied for fourth with Joe Baldeck III. Mike Jr. had some frustrating moments, including a double bogey at the brutal ninth. But he also chipped in three times on the back, once for eagle and twice for birdie, to help stay inside the top five of the standings.
“Today was a grind,” Mike Jr. said. “Obviously, being behind, the plan was to play very aggressively today and attack some pins. I had a bit of a roller coaster around there, a lot of birdies, a lot of boogies, a couple of chip-ins. … I'm happy with the round and knowing I can't be disappointed at under par at Hillcrest. These greens typically protect the course and present a pretty good show.”
Elsewhere on the professional leaderboard, Farmington’s River Smalley finished ninth at 1-over par for the tournament after finishing 3-over par on Sunday. Cortez’s Micah Rudosky finished tied-10th at 3-over par for the tournament after shooting even par on Sunday.
Fort Lewis College’s Ian Henderson finished with the best amateur score at 6-over par for the tournament after finishing 3-under par on Sunday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
