LJWorld.com

It looked as though a sudden-death playoff would determine the winner of the Kansas Golf Association Public Links Championship on Sunday at Eagle Bend Golf Course.

And in a way, it did.

With Cameron Bishop and Tyler Trout tied atop the leaderboard on the 18th hole, each had a birdie putt within 15 feet from same general area.

Trout stepped up and saw his putt roll just under the hole, which gave Bishop a better read of the break. Bishop, a Wichita State golfer, took advantage and trickled in his fourth birdie over the final seven holes to claim the crown.

"I was fortunate to see his putt, because I didn't see it diving that much," Bishop said. "I think he thought he made it, but it just dripped off. So I just kind of lagged it down there, and it dove in. But I didn't know if it was to win or not. I just knew it was to beat him. And it ended up being the winning putt."

Bishop had the privilege of hitting his approach shot first, knowing that a perfect placement could affect Trout's decision on his approach attempt.

"I was glad I was going to hit first and try to put pressure on him," Bishop said. "I had no idea it was so hard back there. I thought it was going to hit and stop - same with his. We both hit great shots. But going first on the approach is definitely a big advantage because it puts the pressure on whoever else is hitting."

It wasn't as though Trout, who was in a three-way tie for first heading into Sunday, was off his game. The Oklahoma City University golfer finished with a bogey-free round.

But after making back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12, Trout couldn't quite get his putter going consistently down the stretch.

"It was definitely frustrating. Just the chipping and putting, I just couldn't get the ball in the hole," Trout said. "I was hitting my drives well and hitting it pretty close to the pin. It's just the greens are so slow, it's hard to hit the chip shots hard enough and the putts hard enough. I left a lot of putts right in the center of the hole, but just a little bit short."

Possibly the biggest putt Trout left short before the No. 18 was his putt on the 16th hole.

With Bishop's birdie attempt being less than a foot from the hole, Trout left his birdie putt just inches short. Bishop knocked in his short putt and moved into a tie with Trout for the final two holes.

But Bishop has become familiar with knocking down big putts this summer. He won the KGA Four-Ball Championship at Alvamar Golf Course earlier in the year.

"Everything's just going my way, I guess, this summer," Bishop said. "It's finally come around. This week, I actually struggled putting until the back nine. I just kept telling myself, 'I've been putting well, just keep grinding.' And they finally fell down on the back nine."

The strong finish by the WSU golfer knocked Shockers teammate Zac Potter off his perch atop the leaderboard.

Potter carded a 69 in the foursome ahead of the final group and was standing alone waiting to find out his fate. Turns out he came two shots shy of victory.

"I made a couple of mistakes down the stretch. I bogeyed 16 and I bogeyed 14," Potter said. "I knew that I was going to be real close, but probably a couple away. I just didn't play well enough down the stretch to win. I played 36 holes of golf and had two bad swings, but that costs you too many strokes.

"But it was really good to see Cameron birdie the last hole to take it outright."