Dennis Cole

1:00 PM
Dennis Cole -4
Nick Denice -3
John Sweat -3
Jon Welch -2
Mark Chatfield-2

2:00 PM
John Sweat -4
Brian Tract -4
Dennis Cole -4
Jon Welch -3
Nick Denice -2

Nick Denice

3:00 PM
Nick Denice -2
Dennis Cole -2
Mike Vitakes -2
Jon Welch -1
Dave Freeman -1

4:00 PM
Nick Denice -3
Dennis Cole -3
Mike Vitakes -3
Jeff Acuna -2
John Sweat -2
Brian Tract -2
Dave Freeman -2

Mike Vitakes

5:00 PM
Dennis Cole -2
Mike Vitakes -2
Nick Denice -1
Brian Tract -1
John Sweat E

Final
Mike Vitakes -2*
Dennis Cole -2
Nick Denice -2
John Sweat -1
Brian Tract E

But what was the suspense leading up to it? Was there a back-and-forth battle at the end? Was there a late contender who got into the mix only to fall back? Exactly how did this event unfold in real time? When we watch a golf tournament on television, that's exactly how we watch it -- in real time, with all the drama unfolding before us as it occurs.

So, that is what we have done here, broken down into segments of 20 minutes each, which is roughly the time needed for a foursome to complete a hole. In the 2019 Championship, the first group went out at 11:00 AM and by 12:40 all the groups of four were out on the course. For the sake of scoring, everything is reported as a net score, after handicaps strokes are applied. So a birdie may actually be a bogey with two pops.

Gary Matsushita and Mike Vitakes, playing in the first group, each collected birdies on the first hole to grab the early lead. The each also birdied the second, While Dave Jackson scored an eagle on #2, as did Mark Pie at the first hole. At 11:40, they were each tied for first at -2. Jackson fell back with a bogey at #3, while Matsushita and Kim each scored double bogeys to drop two strokes off the pace. Louie Nuno and Kevin Hager each birdied the second, while Dennis Cole birdied #1 to join the fray.

Cole followed up with a birdie at #2 take the uncontested lead as Vitakes and Jackson bogeyed #4, Matsushita double bogeyed the fourth, and Hager double bogeyed #3. Meanwhile, Brian Tract and Jon Welch each birdied the first hole. At 12:20, Vitakes held a one-stroke lead over Vitakes, Nuno, Tract, and Welch.

By 12:40 everybody was on the course. Cole birdied the third hole to go to -3, while a birdie by Vitakes at #5 put him at -2. Nick Denice picked up a birdie at the second hole and found himself also only one stroke back. Gary Pereira and Make Chatfield joined those at -1 with respective birdies.

Cole continued his torrid pace with another birdie at #4, while Denice stayed one shot back with a birdie at #3. Sweat scored an eagle on #3 and also vaulted himself to only one shot back of the leader. Welch and Chatfield scored birdies to move to 2 strokes back. Meanwhile, the 6th hole was a mess for Vitakes as he double bogeyed to fall to even par.

At #5, Cole scored his fifth straight birdie to get to -5. Welch bogeyed the fourth hole to drop to -1, and Chatfield collected a double bogey at #5 to fall to even par. Meanwhile, Greg Brown found himself on the leaderboard with a birdie at #2, putting him at -1. On the fifth hole, Sweat picked up a birdie to move to -4, and Tract also got a birdie to move to -2. Welch made the biggest move, however, with an eagle at #5 to get back in the mix at -3. Denice fell back to -1 with a double bogey at the fifth.

Cole stumbled at #7 with a bogey and dropped to -4, while Tract grabbed a share of the lead with an eagle at #6. Denice grabbed a birdie at #6 to move to -2. Over at the fourth hole, Brown dropped off the board with a triple bogey to fall to +2. Anthony Thorpe replaced Brown with a birdie at #5 to go to -1.

As the clock moved past 2:00 the course started to assert itself with the leaders. Tract bogeyed the 7th but was able to keep the lead as Cole double bogeyed #8. Welch bogeyed #7, and with a par at 7, Denice found himself at -2, tied for second, and only one shot behind. The 8th was Tract's undoing, as he posted a triple bogey, dropping him to even par. Welch and Denice each bogeyed the 8th, falling to -1. By virtue of his par at #9, Cole found himself all alone with the lead. Vitakes pulled himself back into the mix with a birdie at #11. Thorpe's bogey at the seventh dropped him back to even par.

Vitakes posted his second straight birdie at #12 to move into a tie for the lead with Cole, and was joined shortly after by Denice, who birdied the 9th. Dave Freeman moved up with a birdie at #10 to be one shot behind the leaders, and was joined by Tract, who birdied the 9th.

At #11, Cole found the magic that he started with with an eagle at #11, putting him out to -4. Freeman birdied the 11th to join the guys at -2 for second place. Sweat birdied the 10th to get back -1, and was joined by Jeff Acuna, whose birdie at the 9th also put him at -1. Tract stumbled with a bogey at #10 to fall back to even par. The 11th continued to play easy for the field as Denice and Sweat picked up birdies, with Denice moving to -3. And Tract wouldn't stay down long with an eagle that pushed him back among the leaders at -2. With pars, Vitakes and Freeman remained at -2.

Cole bogeyed the 13th but came right back with a birdie at #14 to continue to lead at -4. Denice remained at -3 with a couple of pars. Vitakes picked up a birdie at #15 to move to -3, but lost it back with a bogey at #16. Acuna birdied the 11th to bring him to -2, but then he bogeyed at #12. Sweat's bogey at #13 dropped him to -1, while Freeman scored a double bogey at #14 to drop to even par.

Cole was shaky down the stretch, as bogeys at #15 and #16 dropped him to -2. Denice was no better, as bogeys at the 14th and 15th dropped him to -1. Tract picked up a birdie at #15 to move to -1. Vitakes closed out his round with a par on the 18th, posting a score of -2, tied for the lead with Cole. The pretenders fell out at this point, as a bogey by Acuna, a double bogey by Sweat, and a disastrous triple bogey by Welch knocked them out of contention.

Cole then made his statement with a birdie at #17 to take a one-shot lead while no one else could make a move. But with victory in his sight, Cole scored a bogey at the 18th, dropping him back into a tie with Vitakes in the clubhouse. Denice then took up the challenge, and his birdie at #17 put him into a tie for first with one hole left. But he had to settle for par at the 18th, and the leaders were tied at -2. Tract needed a birdie to join the leaders, but he bogeyed the last hole. Sweat did birdie the 18th to move a stroke back at the finish. Too little, too late.