Tim Pearce Wins Event No. 2 in PGA Tournament Series, Thanks to Final-Nine 29

Until Tuesday, Tim Pearce of Birmingham, Michigan, had never shot 29 on a nine, played a round without a five on the scorecard or won a PGA Tournament Series event.

The first two items he knew he accomplished when he parred the final hole for an 8-under 64. When did he think he won?

“Right about now,” a smiling Pearce said, 40 minutes after he finished his round.

Pearce, a PGA of America Assistant Professional at Birmingham Country Club, seemingly came out of nowhere to win Event No. 2 at PGA Golf Club. He birdied the first five holes on the Dye Course’s back nine to move into contention, then birdied the 16th and 17th holes to take the lead and win at 11-under 133.

“I wasn’t thinking about winning today, even after (birdies at) 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. I just wanted to finish strong, keep the 5s off the card and finish well,” Pearce said.

“It feels really good to win. I’ve been playing these things for six years. There’s some great guys here and some great courses, so I like to support it.”

The 28-year-old Pearce started his run with a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 10, then hit a sand wedge to two feet on 11. He made a 30-foot birdie at 12, an 8-footer at 13 and a 20-footer at 14. After a par at No. 15, he hit a 7-iron to 10 feet at 16 and chipped to five feet for a birdie at the 17th.

Domenico Geminiani, who won the 2022 National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club, finished second at 10-under 134 after a 69. The first-round leader birdied the 17th hole to move within a shot of Pearce, but parred the 18th.

“I started off a little slow with a 3-putt on the first hole and I missed a couple of short putts, but I hung in there,” said Geminiani, a PGA Assistant Professional at Old Corkscrew near Naples. “Tim played fantastic. He deserved to win.”

Tyler Collet of Vero Beach and Aaron Purviance of Winston Salem, North Carolina, had chances to win Tuesday, but struggled down the stretch. Collet led at 11-under with three holes left, but finished with two bogeys and a double bogey to finish tied for eighth after a 71. Collet was runner-up in last week’s Event No. 1 to Stephanie Connelly-Eiswerth, who became the first woman in the PGA Tournament Series’ 46-year history to win an event.

Purviance was tied for the lead with Collet with two holes to play but, for the second consecutive day, made double bogey on the 17th hole and a bogey on the 18th.

“Literally, the exact same thing happened to me,” said Purviance, who lost his drive at the 17th in the bushes right of the fairway. “I knew to miss left, but I guess I got a little long with my swing. I was hitting the driver so well the last two days, so it’s a shame.”

Nick Latimer of Riviera Beach, Florida, shot 66 to finish third at 9-under 135. Purviance tied for fourth with Andrew Storm – who shot the day’s best round, 63 – of Omaha, Nebraska, Greg Koch (68) of Orlando and Alex Hoffman (68) of Frederick, Maryland.

“I was hitting my irons close and made a few putts,” said Storm, a PGA Teaching Professional at Shadow Creek Country Club. “Once you get a little momentum by making a birdie, it makes it easier for things to start happening.”

The PGA Tournament Series is presented by GolfPass. Event No. 3 starts Thursday on the Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club.