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FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Franklin Langham won his second
Nationwide Tour title in nearly 11 years Sunday, shooting a 4-under
66 for a two-stroke victory in the Rheem Classic. Langham, who had a 61 on Friday, finished at 5-under 265 on the
Hardscrabble course. He earned $85,500 for his first tour victory
since the 1993 Permian Basin Open. "It's been a long time since I won," Langham said. "I knew it
wasn't going to be easy, and it wasn't. Last year I was in a bit of
a funk and never had a good outlook on golf, but I made a decision
to rededicate myself. It's a good feeling. This is huge." He set a tour record for time between victories at 10 years, 8
months, 17 days. Langham owned the second and third-round leads this year, just
as he did in 2003. A disastrous quadruple-bogey 8 on the par-4,
14th derailed any chance for Langham a year ago. This time he knocked down a 7-iron that stopped 12 feet from the
hole. When he rolled the birdie putt in to get to 16 under, he was
two better than Keoke Cotner, who finished second at 13 under. "My sons have been asking when I was going to bring home a
trophy," Langham said. "Now I have something to take back with
me. Whether it's on this tour or the PGA Tour, the only security we
have is winning." Cotner shot a 67 Sunday to finish second and Shane Bertsch (67)
was third at 11 under. In collecting the $85,500 first-place money, Langham jumped from
No. 19 to No. 4 on the money list. Conway's Bryce Molder, playing on a sponsor's exemption, was the
top Arkansas golfer in a tie for 11th place. Molder was 5 under
after the first two rounds, but he managed back-to-back 70s to earn
$10,450. Former Arkansas State golfer Brian McCann shot a 2-over 72 on
Sunday to finish tied for 40th. Arkansas senior Andrew Dahl, who was also playing on a sponsor's
exemption, started the fourth round tied for 11th after finishing
this third round with a 68. However, Dahl faltered in the final round with a 76. He started
the round with a bogey and double bogey in the first two holes and
he was scrambling the rest of the way. He finished tied with McCann for 40th and would have earned a
check for $1,873 if he was a professional.
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