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West Penn Open: Shields shoots 67 to win title by 2 shots
Eagle on 14 helps hold off McClellan
Wednesday, August 25, 2010

After Kevin Shields finished his round Tuesday, his son, Derrick, stood near the practice green at St. Clair Country Club and, pointing to the trophies, said: "Dad, I bet you get one of those."

He did.

Shields shot a 5-under 67 in the second round of the PNC West Penn Open to win the tournament. He finished at 7-under par after a first-round 70 on the par-72 course.

"It was a really special day," he said as he held the championship trophy.

"I've wanted to win this tournament for a long time."

Rob McClellan finished second at 5 under, and David Brown and Robert Rohanna tied for third at 4 under.

Shields eagled the 14th hole, birdied 15 and 16 and barely missed a birdie on 17. Those holes would not have made a difference, however, if not for par saves on the ninth and 10th holes.

"My up and down on nine, which I spun it off the green two days in a row, that was a big one," said Shields, who puts tons of backspin on his approach shots.

Coming down the 13th fairway, Shields heard a scoring update. There were no scoreboards or standard-bearers on the course, so players had to rely on verbal information, and he discovered he was at least three strokes back.

On the next hole, the par-5, 484-yard 14th, he reached the green in two, hitting his second shot near the back of the treacherously sloping surface. Then, he made a tough eagle putt that, had it not hit the hole, may have gone down a ridge and been 10 to 15 feet long.

"I just hit it harder than I wanted to, I'm just glad it went in," he said.

He made his birdie putt on 15 and hit what he said was his best drive of the day on 16. His approach shot struck the middle of the green but spun backward to the front edge. Didn't matter; he made the putt and knew it was good 20 feet away.

"When they're going in, they're going in," he said.

Shields recently revamped his game and his goals. He "used to be pretty good" but lost some of his desire. When he earned his Class A PGA card, however, he found fresh inspiration.

"I realized there were new goals," he said. "You could win tournaments I'd never played in before, like the section championship."

Some aspects of his game that he wanted to improve years ago recently came under control. A former baseball player, Shields used to allow baseball-swing mechanics to creep into his golf swing, resulting in high slices. He has eliminated that and has more confidence in his swing now, which should help him accomplish his goals.

"I wanted to win the West Penn Open, I wanted to win the state open and I wanted to play in a major," he said.

"And also I want my kids not to think I [stink]."

He celebrated with his family after the round, posing for pictures with the tall silver trophy. As for the rest of the night?

"With my lame lifestyle, probably ... I might go to P.F. Chang's," he said, laughing.

"And take the passenger seat home."

Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1724.

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First published on August 25, 2010 at 12:00 am