Jason Richko and Jake Jacobson battled twice on the Tiger Classic Tour stop on Saturday, February 4, with Richko coming out on top in both the hot seat match and finals. The $300-added event drew 21 entrants to Side Pockets in Seminole, FL.
From among the winners' side final four, Richko sent Jason Bowen west 7-2, as Jacobson was busy sending Mark Wathen over 7-4. In their first of two, Richko prevailed 7-4 to sit in the hot seat, awaiting Jacobson's return.
Bowen and Wathen had single-match journeys on the loss-side. Bowen picked up David Eytcheson, who'd defeated Casey Merrell, double hill and Graham Hawkins 7-4 to reach him. Wathen drew Jon Wing, who'd gotten by Joe Lynch 7-4 and Art Semen 7-5 (Semen had previously defeated top female finisher, Melissa Morlan 7-5). Eytcheson and Wing advanced to the quarterfinals; Eytcheson with a double hill win over Bowen and Wing with a 7-5 victory over Wathen.
It was Eytcheson advancing to the semifinals, with a commanding 7-2 victory over Wing. Jacobson, though, put a stop to Eytcheson's loss-side winning streak with a 7-4 victory that gave him a second shot against Richko. Jacobson got a rack closer in the finals than he had in the hot seat match, but Richko prevailed 7-5 to capture the event title.
