Moore and Tyler Triumph in Macon
Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour / Macon, GA
by InsidePOOL Staff
The Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour stopped at The Hole Thang the weekend of February 16-17 with a total of 66 participants in the events. The open division hosted 36 players, with hometown hero Steve Moore taking top honors, while the amateur division attracted 30 players and saw Brian Tyler emerging as the winner.
Moore was the favorite in the event from the beginning, but the real surprise turned out to be Jesse Middlebrook, for even though he took second place in the event, his fantastic play stole the show. Middlebrook suffered a second-round loss at the hands of JR Rossman in a thrilling match with the final score 11-10. After that match Middlebrook hit the one-loss side with determination. He overcame three hill-hill matches to reach the finals and play Moore for the title.
In the beginning of the finals it looked as though Moore was going to run through Middlebrook as Moore eased to an 8-3 lead. In the twelfth game Moore came up dry on the break and did not get back to the table until the score was 10-8 Middlebrook. Middlebrook came up dry on his next break, and Moore won that game plus the next to knot the score on the hill. In the final rack Moore broke and made the 1 and 7 ball but was left with no shot on the 2 ball, and a safety battle began. Within the next five plays, Middlebrook had Moore on two fouls with what looked like no chance of Moore making a legal hit on the 2 ball. After carefully studying the table layout Moore came up with a spectacular kick shot and smashed the 2 into the 9 ball, which found the pocket for the win.
Open Division:
1st Steve Moore
2nd Jesse Middlebrook
3rd Travis Summers
4th Jeff Hooks
5th JR Rossman
Brian Tyler
Chuck Dorsett
Rod Rentz
Tyler swept the amateur division, making his way through the bottom half of the bracket undefeated. He faced down Michael Lowery 7-2, James Parr 7-1, George Henderson 7-1, and Shawn Dowling 7-6 in the hot seat. Runner-up Dowling bested Derek Fountain 7-1, Antonio Maxwell 7-1, and Stephen Gonzalo 7-5 before suffering a loss to Tyler in the hot seat match. He recouped in the semifinals against Gonzalo, whom he defeated 5-0 to return to the finals, where Tyler bested him 7-3.
Amateur Division:
1st Brian Tyler
2nd Shawn Dowling
3rd Steven Gonzalo
4th Justin Mixon
5th George Henderson
Bryant Walker