Jones a big cheese in Marion

MARION - Garrett Jones couldn't keep his emotions under control any longer.

The Rewey, Wis., native just watched his par putt drop on the 18th green at Hunters Ridge Golf Course Sunday, giving him the Greater Cedar Rapids Open championship and a $20,000 check.

After a few quick handshakes with his playing partners, he hugged his dad and the tears poured out.

"It means so much to win this tournament," Jones said, choking back tears after his final round. "That was the hardest round of golf I've ever played."

It may have seemed hard to Jones, but to the rest of the people watching, he made it look pretty easy.

Jones entered Sunday's final round at 12 under par with a two-shot lead over four players. He finished the front nine at 14-under, two strokes ahead of Seth Fair of Brownsburg, Ind.

After that, no one was anywhere close to the level of golf Jones was playing.

He birdied the first four holes on the back nine, and then added another on the 15th to give him the cushion he needed to win. Jones finished the final round with his second straight score of 65, 7 under.

Jones said playing with a lead going into the final day was one of the hardest things he's had to do.

"You hear all the time on TV that it's hard to come from behind, but it's even harder to play with a lead. Not protecting it and trying to get more birdies is hard," Jones said.

His three-round total of 19-under 197 is a Hunters Ridge record.

"Money aside, to win the way I did, I'm just really proud of myself," Jones said.

The win is a little surprising to Jones, he said, especially after struggling for most of the summer. He took time off in June to work with a new coach in Madison. One of the things he learned was to relax when he was on the course. That is just what he did this weekend. After taking the lead Saturday, Jones went back and fished Saturday afternoon with his host family. He then grilled out with the family and some neighbors while his girlfriend arrived that night.

"It helps take my mind off it," Jones said. "My mind can race, it's been known to race and think about stuff it shouldn't."

Jones' mom and dad watched his entire final round of golf Sunday. At times it seemed his dad was more nervous then Jones. That was not necessarily the case though, according to Jones.

"I was just trying to not get ahead of myself, using a lot of self talk," Jones said. "I did a really good job of that today. I tried to laugh when I needed to laugh and focus when I needed to focus."

The last time Jones won an event, he was an amateur just starting his professional career.

Jones ended up beating Fair by five strokes as Fair shot 14 under for the tournament to finish in second. Dave Rummells of Kissimmee, Fla. won the senior professional division, shooting 10 under for the tournament.

Besides Jones' emotional victory, another side story to the tournament was its support for melanoma awareness. David Henry, a melanoma survivor and regular participant at the Cedar Rapids Open, said he was happy for the awareness brought by the Open committee.

"It's kind of humbling to know that all this awareness was brought because of what I did in the tournament last year," Henry said. "Melanoma needs more awareness."

As for Jones, he still can't believe he is the 2012 Greater Cedar Rapids Open champion.

"I'm just so happy it all worked out," he said.

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