Photo by Chuck Kirman

William Sjaichudin, a 17-year-old from Florida who is visiting family in California, chips to a green in the final round of the Ventura City Golf Championship. Sjaichudin, who plans to play college golf at Purdue, finished in second place.

Photo by Chuck Kirman

Ben Barrow watches a putt during the final round of the Ventura City Golf Championship on Sunday at Olivas Links Golf Course. Barrow, a Westlake High graduate and Moorpark College golfer, won by one stroke.

Dressed in his red Nike golf shirt, and black Nike cap, Moorpark College sophomore Ben Barrow had the look of Tiger Woods as he started play in Sunday's final round of the Ventura City Golf Championship at Olivas Links Golf Course.

And over his last five holes, Barrow did a good imitation of the way Woods closes out tournaments. Barrow birdied four of the last five holes to win the title by one stroke over first-round leader William Sjaichudin.

Barrow, who played his high school golf at Westlake, posted the only under-par round on Sunday, shooting a 1-under 71, to finish at 4-under 138 for the two-day event. Sjaichudin, a 17-year-old player from Florida who is in the area visiting relatives, was 2 over in the final round, leaving him at 139.

Former Pepperdine standout Colin Wilcox finished third with a 141, while Oxnard's Mike Flynn and Camarillo's Jordan Silvertrust tied for fourth at 142. At age 51, Mike Smith was the oldest player in the championship flight to earn money, finishing in a tie for 11th.

Barrow expected Olivas to be a challenge, so his goal was to shoot at least even par in the final round.

He credited his late-round surge to the appearance of his swing coach George Gankas, who helped caddie for him on the back nine.

"It helped a lot," Barrow said of having his coach there. "I birdied four of the final five with him around."

The only hole Barrow didn't birdie coming down the stretch may have been the one that helped him win the tournament.

Barrow pulled his tee shot on the par-4 16th and he was afraid it might be out of bounds. When he got to his ball he found it on the green, the 13th green.

With it still in play, Barrow hit a wedge from the that green to just over the 16th green, where he was able to get up and down for his four.

"I got lucky there, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Barrow said of his break on 16. "I hit it well both days, so I was very confident.

"The big difference on the back nine was getting a few putts to drop."

Sjaichudin started the day with a one-stroke lead over Wilcox after shooting a 5-under 65 at Buenaventura on Saturday.

But being a visitor to Ventura, he has never played Olivas Links, which made things tough for him, especially around the greens.

"There were a lot of holes where I had no clue where to hit it," Sjaichudin said. "I had a hard time putting. I missed two birdie putts from inside 10 feet.

"The weather is also very different than what I am used to in Florida, so I wasn't hitting my shots the usual distances."

But despite those things, Sjaichudin felt the shot that cost him was hitting his tee shot out of bounds on No. 12.

"I played OK, but I am disappointed I did not win," Sjaichudin said.

In the A flight, Scott Finney from Oxnard fired a net score of 2-under 70 to beat Simi Valley's Chris McCully by one stroke. McCully, the only woman in the tournament, also shot a final-round 70.

Finney, who was playing in his first Ventura City tournament, made a 12-foot birdie on the final hole to finish at 70 and stay out of a playoff.

"I started out with bogeys on my first two holes, and I had three penalty strokes during the round," Finney said. "But somehow I held it together.

"I made a nice lag putt on 17 to save par and I made the birdie putt on 18."

Finney said he had no idea he needed a birdie to win. In fact, he joked with someone else in his group that it didn't matter because he figured he was too far out of it.

"Despite the tough start, I played pretty solid both days," Finney said.

McCully watched nervously as the scores were posted. She thought she had won the tournament until Finney's score, the last one put up, was posted.

"I thought I had it," McCully said. "The conditions were tough and I didn't play great, but I hung in there. I hit some terrible shots, but I also hit some really good ones.

"I missed a 3-foot putt on No. 1 and that turned out to make the difference. But I am happy to finish second."