Celebrating with yell, fist pump: Steve Scannell, Matt Jose prevail at Worcester Country Club Invitational

WORCESTER — As rain fell for most of the final round at Worcester Country Club, there was a brief break in the precipitation as Worcester resident Steve Scannell prepared to make a par putt for all the marbles.

And with one smooth stroke, Scannell calmly sank the 3-foot putt after a second trip down 18 in the Grand March, and let out a yell and a fist pump as he and partner Matt Jose of Framingham won the 101st Worcester Country Club Invitational.

“It was awesome,” Scannell said. “I didn’t know how I would react when I hit it. I was surprised that I let out a bit of a yell. But I was glad that it went in. It was exciting.”

About 30 minutes prior, in steady rain, Jose's 10-foot putt for par and the win came up just short, forcing a playoff with Mark and Lionel Lamoreaux of Worcester.

That made the victory all the more sweeter when Scannell sank the winning putt.

“Nobody deserves this more than Steve,” Jose said. “I’m just really happy that he was able to make it, because he deserved it.”

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With dark clouds looming overhead, the rain began to fall as teams were putting on the fourth green. As the rain picked up, tournament organizers decided to suspend play for about five minutes before rain let up, and then suspended play again once the hole was finished.

Following the second delay, the teams lined up for a chip-off to determine which three teams would join Team Lamoreaux in the final hole, with five teams tied for only three spots remaining. The three teams with the closest chip shots to the pin would advance to the final hole.

The rain, however, continued to fall throughout the remainder of the final.

“We tried to not let it affect us,” Jose said. “We were just focused on trying to play our own game and not worry about anything else but hitting the next shot.”

“You hit a couple of bad shots, but then you hit a really good one, and you are right back in it,” Scannell said. “That’s what I was trying to do the entire time, and it ended up working out.”

—Contact Ethan Winter at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @EWints.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Steve Scannell, Matt Jose prevail at Worcester Country Club Invitational