After back-to-back UPA Tour wins, Shawn Putnam was the hottest player on the men's pro scene. He proved this weekend that he isn't planning on cooling off anytime soon.
Putnam went undefeated through a field of 91 players at the Planet Pool Tour 9-Ball event at Hagerstown Billiards in Hagerstown, MD. Putnam took the hot-seat with a hard fought 9-7 win over Kevin West. Even with the loss, West was assured of taking over #1 position on the Planet Pool Tour points list. That would have to be enough for West in this event as he lost to Ryan McCreesh 7-3 in his next match.
The final between McCreesh and Putnam was a rematch from earlier on Sunday when Putnam blanked McCreesh 9-0. The final match turned out to be just as one-sided with Putnam scoring an 11-2 win.
Putnam earned $1300 for first place, while McCreesh took home $900. West and tour newcomer Dan Mulhollen filled out the top four places. Putnam, McCreesh and Mulhollen were joined by Joey Ryan, Brett Stottlemyer, Ed Deska, Carl Jones and Josh Brothers as qualifiers for the New Unified Tour System's Skins Game Qualifier.
The ladies division saw the return of Sueyen Rhee, who had not played in a ladies division event since January. Rhee has dominated the ladies division in the past, but this time Rhee lost to 17 year old Pam Treadway from Delaware for the hot-seat 7-5. Rhee then defeated Ellen Yu on the one-loss side. Yu, the winner from the last Planet Pool 9-Ball event, had lost an early match and come back with 6 straight match wins on the left side of the board. The victory over Yu earned Rhee another shot against Treadway in the finals, but this was Treadway's tournament as she cruised to a 9-2 win.
Treadway won $470 in addition to a qualifier for the WPBA Southeast Classic at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL on June 22nd - 26th. Rhee settled for $300. Yu and Amanda Pasko filled out the top four spots.
The Planet Pool Tour will be at Breaktime Sports Grill & Pub in Salisbury, MD on May 14th - 15th for their next event.
