This wasn’t the way Joe Sakulpolphaisan envisioned it, but he will take it.
Second-round leader Sakulpolphaisan, a Mississippi State golf signee, was declared the winner of the 65th annual Greenwood Country Club Invitational Sunday when rain wiped out the final round of the tournament.
At 10 under par, Sakulpolphaisan began the final round with a three-stroke lead over Greenville’s Michael Naaman and was four up on Greenwood’s Alan Ellis and MSU golfer Chad Ramey.
The final group had played just four holes Sunday when another wave of storms hit just after 4 p.m. for the second stoppage of play. The tournament was called shortly after that, so the 36-hole scores were used to determine the finish.
“Yes, I would’ve liked to finish the round, but we have no control over the weather,” said Sakulpolphaisan, 21, the reigning national junior college golfer of the year.
He started playing golf at age 9 in Thailand and came to the United States a couple of years ago to play golf. He played the last two years at Darton Junior College in Georgia, where he shot over par just three times in 17 rounds last spring en route to a 70.3 scoring average.
Sakulpolphaisan, a former member of the Thai junior international team, fired a first-round 6-under-par 66 on Friday, followed by a 68 on Saturday.
Naaman led after the first round with a 7-under-par 67, but was three back to start the final round after shooting even par on Saturday.
Ellis shot 69 the first day and 69 in the second round. He had to come back early Sunday morning to finish the last three holes of his second round after rain ended play late Saturday afternoon with 68 golfers still on the course.
He was 4 under par on the 16th hole when play was stopped Saturday.
After a par at 16, he made a double-bogey on the par-4 17th when his tee shot went out of bounds. Ellis birdied the par-5 18th to finish with a 69.
Ellis, the 2010 Invitational champion, tied for third with 2011 champ Ramey, who is about to start his junior season with the Bulldogs.
Ramey opened the tournament with a 66 and then shot even par in the second round.
• Contact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com. Follow on Twitter:@Bill_Burrus.
