For Brett McCauley, the 29th Ozark Shootout ended the same way No. 28 did: with the Poplar Bluff native claiming victory.
Now he's just hoping the weekend that followed looks nothing like 2017.
McCauley survived a three-man chip off on hole No. 7 before edging out Ron Mangold on the green of No. 8 to win his second straight shootout Friday at Westwood Hills Country Club in Poplar Bluff.
The competition was played out ahead of the 72nd Michelob Ultra Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational golf tournament.
McCauley carried momentum into the Ozark Invitational one year ago after capturing the shootout title, but he failed to capitalize and finished just outside of the Top 20 at No. 21.
He's hoping he can shake any sort of curse that begins with triumph Friday and ends with defeat Sunday night.
"Let's hope the stigma changes on that," McCauley said. "Maybe somebody who wins the shootout puts a good score up during the weekend and does well in the tournament."
McCauley went for par on Westwood Hills' Par-5 18th hole to top Mangold. He posted par on the seventh hole (No. 17) and survived the chip off with Mangold after the two ousted 2017 Ozark Invitational champion Hunter York. McCauley then two-putted the final hole of the day for the win.
"I played ok ... I played well enough to win; I didn't light it on fire but I played well enough to keep myself in contention," McCauley said. "I hope I carry (today's victory) over into the weekend and get a Top 10 finish. That's my goal."
Mangold, who finished second behind York, had a chance to win Friday but came up just about as short as it gets on his par putt on the final hole when his ball kissed the edge of the cup before rolling on. Mangold said he was willing to settle for second on Friday, if only because he had a bigger goal in mind for the weekend.
"Congrats to Brett, he played it like he should have. This is a great tournament, this is a great place to be and I'm happy with second," Mangold said before shifting his focus to the invitational. "I've had every place but first ... I've had a couple seconds, couple thirds, couple fourths, couple fifths ... so I'd like to try to win one and plus -- I'll be 48 in a couple weeks -- try to hang with the young guys."
The shootout was sheduled to be a 9-hole, 10-man knockout tournament, but the event was shortened to eight holes played over Nos. 11 through 18 after one competitor was unable to attend.
Competing aside McCauley, Mangold, of Pocahontas, Ark., and York (Decatur, Ill.), were Poplar Bluff natives Ben Brummitt, Derek Rahlmann, and Poplar Bluff High School senior golfer Nathan Woolard, as well as Chance Holden (Dexter), Jeff Johnson (Ballwin) and Justin Gosa (Germantown, Tenn.).
Each hole ended with one elimination, starting with Gosa on hole No. 1 (11), Woolard on No. 2 (12), Rahlmann on No. 3 (13), Holden on No. 4 (14), Brumitt on No. 5 (15), Johnson on No. 6 (16) and York on No. 7 (17).
York's luck went south when the Southern Illinois University junior golfer over shot the green on his last hole, putting himself well behind and below the hole on the bottom of a hill leading to the green. He two-putted his way back to the green but again overshot the hole on his second chip to all but eliminate his chance of winning.
Still, he was pleased with his performance in his first shootout and left Westwood Hills feeling good about his game as well as his odds at defending his Ozark Invitational crown.
"Losing today was a little but more motivation for the weekend, you could say, and I feel more ready," York said. "But this was a lot of fun ... I've never done anything like that. You don't play this like you would play a normal 18 holes. It kind of changes what everyone does. But I'll definitely take (third place) for my first showing here."