[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']BROUSSARD – Michael Smith turned to his caddie -- his dad – on Le Triomphe’s 18th fairway Friday and asked a very serious question.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“He said to tell him the truth…do we have to make birdie?” Dennis Smith said. “I told him no … we had to make par, but not birdie. I was hoping that was right.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']As it turned out, dad’s prediction was correct. The Lafayette product and former UL Lafayette standout two-putted for par on the 18th, finishing up at two-under for the tournament and inside the one-under cut line for the Chitimacha Louisiana Open.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']His effort was a big part of a stellar performance by the tournament’s four sponsor exemptions. Three of them – Smith, B.C. Thibeaux and Mike Heinen – made the cut and will continue play today, while Kris Cox posted a strong four-under 67 Friday but missed the cut by a single stroke.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“We’re looking like geniuses now,” said Open executive director Danny Jones, who looked at potential large crowds over the weekend with the strong local showing and the free-admission policy in place for this year’s $550,000 Nationwide Tour event.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Smith and Thibeaux, four-year college teammates at UL Lafayette, had identical 70-70—140 scores, Smith getting his in the morning wave and Thibeaux being the last player to finish Friday’s play with a six-foot par putt.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“Wonderful,” said Thibeaux, who was making his Nationwide debut. “I haven’t made a cut this year on the mini-tours and only made five all last year. To make it on this stage….”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Smith had been on that stage one year ago, when he was headed toward a weekend appearance before struggling down the stretch and missing a cut-making putt on the same 18th green that he made his clutch par Friday.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] “This feels really good,” Smith said after recording four straight pars to end Friday’s round – and after bogeys at the difficult 13th and 14th holes threatened to de-rail what had been a solid three-under trip through 12 holes. “I still had a few too many three-putts, but I was hitting it well. I just had to hang in there, and now I’m looking forward to the weekend.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Father Dennis also caddied for Michael during last year’s PGA Q-School, when he advanced through pre-qualifying and the first round before missing out in the second round.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“Not many fathers and sons can get along enough to do this,” Michael said. “The key is that we can both admit when we’re wrong. He helps me a lot, and it makes it pretty special to have him there.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Smith also had the day’s biggest gallery, one that grew when he went on a birdie binge at the 7th (30-foot putt), 8th (tap-in after an 8-iron within two feet) and 10th holes.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Thibeaux got off to a solid start with birdies at the third and fifth holes before bogeys at the sixth and eighth put him back at even. But he ran in a putt on the 10th for birdie and added another at the par-five 12th, and had a key chip and a one-putt bogey at the 13th and parred the difficult 14th hole.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“After that, I knew all I had to do was keep my focus,” he said. “I didn’t look at the scoreboard all day. I was nervous but it was a good nervous.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Heinen had a roller-coaster ride on the way to a two-under 69, an effort that left him right on the cut line and put him into weekend play for the 13th time in his 15 Open appearances – a tournament record.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“The scores really weren’t that low,” he said after his morning round, when -1 was still a cut-line question. “It played tough … the wind was blowing pretty good and it kept changing.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Heinen bogeyed the 13-14 swing but rallied with birdies at 16 and 17 before a three-putt bogey at the 18th.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“I hit it past and just didn’t hit a very good putt coming back,” he said of the final hole. “I hated giving it away on 18, but I putted really good today. I figured I had to birdie coming in at 16 or 17, so to birdie both was a plus.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Cox had a major rally from his opening four-over 75, but came up just short despite birdies on four of his last 10 holes.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“I just putted well,” he said. “I putted so badly yesterday (33 putts compared to 25 on Friday), but I worked on it on the practice green and my caddie gave me a good tip. I’m pleased … I made some birdies coming in. Just a couple of bogeys hurt, but I probably scored as good as I could.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Smith didn’t know the other locals’ results when he finished, but he was looking forward to a significant Acadiana presence over the weekend.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“It would be great,” he said. “B.C.’s a really good friend, and Mike and Kris are pretty much role models for me.”[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']“We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to come out here and play,” Thibeaux said, “and we took advantage of it.”[/FONT]
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[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']TOUGH FOR WINNERS:[/FONT][FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] Only one of the four previous winners on this year’s Nationwide Tour will be playing on the weekend.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']New Zealand Open winner Bobby Gates, Moonah Classic champion Jim Herman and Steve Pate, who won the Tour’s last outing in Colombia, all finished outside the cut line. Herman shot even-par Friday to finish at 72-71—143 and Pate matched that figure despite shooting one-under Friday (73-70). Gates, the year’s first winner in his initial Nationwide outing, finished with a three-over 74 for a 145 total.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']This year’s only winner still playing is veteran Fran Quinn of Holden, Mass., who won the Panama Claro Championship in February and made the cut by one stroke Friday with a 70-70—140 total.[/FONT]
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[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']TOUGH FOR EX-CHAMPS:[/FONT][FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] Seven former Louisiana Open champions played in this year’s event, but only two survived to the weekend. Paul Stankowski of Flower Mound, Texas, who won 14 years ago in 1996 and followed that win with a victory in the PGA Tour’s BellSouth Classic one week later – still a singular accomplishment --, posted a four-under 67 Friday and is at four-under 138. That has him tied for 15th entering today’s second round.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Also in is 2008 winner Gavin Coles of Bathurst, Australia, who went one-over on Friday but still hit the cut line with a 69-72—141 score.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Not reaching the weekend were 1992’s inaugural Open winner Sean Murphy (71-71—142), 2001 champion Paul Claxton (76-76—152), 2002 winner Steven Alker (73-72—145), 2005 champ Ryan Hietala (71-85—156) and defending champion Bubba Dickerson, who rallied from a five-over opening 76 to a one-under 70 but still missed the cut by five strokes.[/FONT]
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[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']ACE, ACE, BABY:[/FONT][FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] Dallas pro Matt Weibring, who tied for fifth here in 2006 in his only previous Louisiana Open outing, had the tournament’s first hole-in-one since 2008 on Friday. He aced the 181-yard 11th hole during a three-under 68 that left him at two-under 140 entering the weekend. The last Open aces were by Paul Claxton (3rd hole) in the opening round and Garrett Osborn (6th hole) in the fourth round two years ago. The last Open ace on No. 11 came from Daniel Fox in the opening round in 2005.[/FONT]

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (all events at Le Triomphe Country Club, Broussard)
Saturday, March 27 -- Championship Third Round, 8:09 a.m.
Sunday, March 28 -- Championship Final Round, 8:09 a.m.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] (Courtesy of LA Open & Dan McDonald)
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