"I hit a great iron shot in here, but these greens are so daggone hard. You hit it and it goes 35 feet by the hole," he said.
Lawson sensed his luck might be changing when King's next shot came up short of the green.
"When he chipped his first shot and left if short of the green, that definitely changed the way I putted," Lawson said. "That rough's kind of gnarly and he's still got a tough up-and-down for a four. It changed the way I hit my first putt, for sure."
Lawson putted out for par while King double-bogeyed for a five, sending the two to a playoff.
"I hit one bad shot, left," said King of Somerset. "It's impossible to make three (from there) and it's hard to make four. And I ended up with a five. I knew there was no way of getting it close. It was at least a four."
When Lawson won his first Profitt Memorial last year, he kept his fingers crossed on the final holes that there wouldn't be a playoff — and there wasn't. Sunday afternoon, Lawson wanted a playoff.
"I was hoping," he said. "I bogeyed 16 and I thought, 'Oh well, it's done with.' Then he (King) made a great putt (birdie) there on 17. I really thought it was over. He kind of helped me out on 18 there."
On the first two shots of the playoff, Lawson and King hit almost identical. Both golfers put their drives in the left rough and their second shots in the bunker at the front of the green.
But Lawson's third shot would give him the edge he needed. Lawson's shot out of the bunker fell within two feet of the hole, setting him up for a birdie.
King's third shot was no where near the hole. His sand shot rolled off the green and into the back rough.
"I just didn't hit a good shot," said King. "It wasn't horrible, wasn't great. It was just mediocre. And Kevin hit a really good one. I knew it was over."
Lawson could sense victory at hand.
"He probably had 10-foot for a par and I had just over a foot for birdie," he said. "And I just tapped it in."
King held a one-stroke lead over Lawson heading into Sunday's final round, firing a 66 on Saturday while Lawson had a 67. Both golfers posted 33 on the front nine Sunday then King went up two strokes with a birdie on the 12th hole. The two were tied again after a King bogey on 13 and birdie on 14. Lawson's bogey at 16 and a King birdie on 17 gave King the two-stroke lead going into the final hole.
The Profitt tourney was not the first time that Lawson and King had played together.
"He's a super player," said Lawson. "I played with him in the State Am qualifier and we played together all three rounds of the State Am and then we come over here and I play with him here."
At the State Am, King came out ahead of Lawson, finishing fourth while Lawson finished 14th.
Lawson and King both finished at 136 for the Homer Profitt Memorial with Lawson shooting a 69 on Sunday. King had a 70 on the final round.
Former Profitt champion Scott Bolin of Lancaster and Selby Wiggins of Somerset finished third and fourth, respectively, with a score of 146. Bolin shot 73 both days and Wiggins went 74-72. Phil Hendrickson, another former Profitt winner and the 2007 State Amateur champion, placed fifth with 147 (74-73) with Preston McClung, sixth, with 148 (73-75).
Awards were presented to the top six golfers in each of the 12 flights of the tournament.
Those top golfers were:
1st Flight
Kevin Lawson 69-67 136
Eric King 70-66 136
Scott Bolin 73-73 146
Selby Wiggins 74-72 146
Phil Hendrickson 74-73 147
Preston McClung 73-75 148
2nd Flight
Michael King 74-76 150
Chris Hatfield 76-77 153
Tom Hastie 76-77 153
Nick Marsee 78-77 155
Ken Hurt 80-75 155
Tim Whitis 80-77 157
3rd Flight
Tre Bowling 72-79 151
Ron Garland 74-78 152
Danny Roller 76-78 154
David Grigson 76-79 155
Clay Carter 78-78 156
Dusty Pollard 78-79 157
4th Flight
Jon McWilliams 72(+1)-81 *154
Jimmy Hogg 78-80 158
Max Czernin 79-80 159
Chris Cornelius 81-80 161
Jason Todd 86-80 166
Sean Cundiff 87-80 167
