Duke – McPherron – Strickland
Montana State Co-Champions 2018
Congratulations to David Duke, Wilton Strickland, and Dorje McPherron for playing rough and hanging tough through the May 19-20 weekend at the 2018 Montana Closed in Butte. Each finished at 3.5 with David gaining the tie-break edge and the champion seed for the 2019 Closed. Defending champion, Antonius Raelund was stopped in round 5 just short of the top score with 3 points.
Duke and Strickland struck early with wins in the first two rounds. Both found their 3rd round opponents more prickly and the pace slowed to draws for both. Each held 2.5 scores as Saturday action concluded. Raelund trailed slightly with 2 points having incurred a second round loss to Duke. McPherron, mounting a comeback after a first round loss to Raelund, reached break-even at 1.5
Though somewhat unusual for round-robin pairings, Sunday’s round four actually had the leaders squaring off. Duke’s defense prevailed over Strickland’s Colle setup. Raelund picked up another win as did McPherron to go to 3 points and 2.5 respectively.
In the decisive 5th round, Strickland, again with a Colle, outlasted Raelund while McPherron found some nice tactical shots to bring down Duke’s English and the triumvirate was completed.
The standings cross-table is posted in Tournament Standings.