Westfield's Ben Smith plays loose, closes with 1-under at Ohio Open

WESTFIELD CENTER — Heading into the final round of the 101st Ohio Open on Wednesday, Westfield Center resident Ben Smith wanted to "freewheel it" and see what he could do with one more opportunity to take on Westfield Country Club's North Course. With wife Krystal, 3-year-old daughter Ridley and 1-year-old son Lane watching his front nine, Smith turned in a sterling day, shooting a 1-under-par 69 to tie for 34th with a three-round, 2-over 212. "It was a really good day," Smith said. "It was the best I've hit it all year, hands down. The goal was to make the cut, I made it and I played well today." Having his kids watching him made the moment all the more special. "It was really fun and the most they've watched," Smith said. "They've watched the last hole of the club championship, but it was really fun to have them out there and share these memories with them. I'm a dad first, and it'll always be that way with golf secondary — if not third or fourth — in my life." Fellow Westfield Center resident Darin de Lelys had a similar sentiment when it came to enjoying the final round and matched Smith with a 69 to tie for 23rd with a 210. "I probably felt the most comfortable out of the three days today," de Lelys said. "You've made the cut, so if you shoot 90, who cares, and if you shoot 65, that's great. There's not a huge difference in it since I was not sitting in the lead." Brunswick native Joe Puch battled some tough breaks to conclude his Ohio Open with a 74 to tie for 53rd with a 216. Kent State incoming sophomore Jordan Gilkison became the first amateur to win the Ohio Open since 1978 when he shot a 5-under 65 in the final round to finish with a 200 for the tournament. The 19-year-old is only the sixth amateur to win. Smith was 3 under through 16 holes after carding birdies on the 436-yard fourth, 177-yard 11th and 552-yard 14th and picked up a lot of momentum. "I definitely played more free today," Smith said. "The first two days, I was a lot more tentative and afraid to make a mistake so I could make the cut. Today, my caddy (Jason Glover) joked I was just playing with house money, I could have shot 80 or 60 and felt the same." Smith caught a couple of bad breaks to finish with two bogeys after a wind change caught his ball on No. 17. Then his second shot on No. 18 got caught in the top of the stone wall that lined the rough area during the beautifully clear morning that had barely a cloud in the sky. "I've never seen anything like that," Smith said. "I probably had a better chance of getting struck by lightning on a day like today than hitting it where I did." De Lelys kicked off his day with a birdie on the 452-yard second with a long drive down the middle of the fairway and another on the 168-yard third, where he hit an approach to about 12 feet. He capped his round with a birdie on the 604-yard hole. His 23rd-place finish was his best in three straight years of making the cut at the Ohio Open. In 2020, de Lelys finished 57th, and he was 30th at last year's event that was shortened to two rounds due to weather. "It was alright," de Lelys said. "I hit it better today, but hit everything to about 40 feet (on the green) and had a lot of lag putts and a couple of bogeys that could have been pars pretty easy." Puch birdied the 408-yard 12th and 498-yard 17th to highlight a round that otherwise did not go the way he planned. "I thought today I hit the ball better than I have all week, but I got a couple really unfortunate lies in the fairways, and every ball I hit in a bunker plugged right in the face," Puch said. "It was really, really frustrating today. Overall, I thought I played so much better than what I my score indicated, but that's golf." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.