Dicciani gets redemption, wins New York State Open

The scores were so tightly bunched that there was plenty of disappointment to go around Thursday, with much of it going to Casey Calmi of Queens. Not to worry, though. Keith Dicciani's name on that big winner's check is proof that even the worst disappointment is only temporary.

A year ago, no one at the New York State Open had more heartbreak than Dicciani, a former assistant at Glen Oaks and Muttontown who now works at Metropolis in Westchester. He hit a shank on No. 18 at Bethpage Black, missed a par putt and lost by a shot. This time, in the same situation on the same hole, he came through - twice.

First he sank a 10-footer for par to tie Jamie Miller of Buffalo at 1 under par through 54 holes of regulation. That was minutes after Calmi, a former St. John's player from Douglaston who turned pro last year, had missed a three-footer for par to lose a share of first.

Then, in the sudden-death playoff on the par-4 18th at the Black, he made a 7-foot putt to beat Miller and win the oversized check that had slipped through his fingers to Brian Lamberti last July. "The last four or five inches, it just curled enough to catch the edge. It was good, seeing that go in," the 38-year-old champion said, having accepted the $17,500 first prize from Lenox Advisors, the sponsor.

Dicciani seemed pretty composed afterward, as he had been last year, when he philosophically said that Lamberti deserved to win because he birdied the final three holes in a sudden rainstorm. He nearly had to tip his cap again yesterday.

Miller, a college roommate at Augusta State of Tarik Can, who shot 65 Wednesday, made birdie from 30 feet by using a putting stroke with the blade of his wedge. "A little too dramatic for my taste," Miller said.

"I saw him chip in on 18 and I said, 'Oh, boy,' " Dicciani said. But this time, he held his poise and made a par putt to finish with 1-over-par 72 on a tough, blustery day. "Of course you're nervous, but you learn to relax and play your game. You have to kind of be there and fail a few dozen times at first and figure out what you have to do to not do that anymore."

That is encouragement for Calmi, who has played more than 500 rounds on the Black. He played well, right up to a stellar 4-iron on 18, which just trickled into the fringe. He putted long and missed the one coming back. "I hit good shots, I just came up a little short," he said. "You lose more than you win in this game, so you've just got to take your medicine and keep going."

So how long will that miss linger with him? Said Calmi: "Not much. I've got a tournament tomorrow."