Horowitz finishes 3rd in Met Open

SCARBOROUGH, N.Y. -- Joseph Horowitz had the tournament where he wanted it.

Up two strokes with nine to play in the Met Open Championship at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, the Long Beach native and Lido Beach Golf Club pro looked primed to end a winless drought dating to the 2009 Gosling's Invitational in Bermuda.

But he bogeyed the 13th and three-putted to bogey the 16th and 17th holes, finishing tied for third after a 1-over-par 71 left him two strokes behind winner Tyler Hall.

"It was extremely disappointing," said Horowitz, a veteran of the mini-tours. "You could sugarcoat it and take the positives. I think that if you're not upset and disappointed, then you shouldn't be playing golf.

"The good thing about golf is that there are 35 tournaments a year that you can play. But any time you have a chance to win a tournament, you really want to win it."

Horowitz thrust himself onto the leader board with Wednesday's second round, a blistering 7-under 63 that left him one stroke behind leader Morgan Hoffmann heading into Thursday's final round. Hoffmann relinquished the lead after bogeys on the second and third and finished tied for sixth.

A nearly three-hour rain delay stopped play with Horowitz standing on the sixth green facing a five-foot eagle putt. Once play resumed, he holed the putt but couldn't sustain his momentum. A bogey on the ninth began a 5-over stretch over the final 10 holes.

"It's easy to fall back on a crutch and say, 'Yea, if it wasn't for the weather,' " Horowitz said. "I didn't feel any different. I still hit some good shots."

Hall (Packanack Golf Club) hit an errant approach to the 18th but got up and down for par and the win.