NATCHEZ — Three teams had a shot at upsetting leaders Dr. Jeff Anderson and Casey Ham at Sunday’s final round of the 2009 Wharlest Jackson Elks Lodge No. 1675 Invitational at Beau Pré Country Club, but only one team succeeded.

Jody Helbling of Natchez and Marc Noel of Lafayette, La., ended up being the only team that kept pace with the first-round leaders.

And the final four holes proved to be the difference as Helbling and Noel birdied the par-4 15th and 17th holes while Anderson and Ham could not make the key putts down the stretch. The birdies gave Helbling and Noel a final-round score of 12-under-par 60 to finish with a two-day total of 23-under-par 143 to take the championship flight.

“We got off to a pretty hot start. We had six birdies in a row from 5 through 10. We m ade a 20-foot birdie putt on 14 that kept us going,” Noel said. “Jody hit a good drive on 15. Mine went into the hazard. We used a wedge and got it close and made birdie. We were able to birdie 17.”

Helbling and Noel had to settle for a par on the par-5 18th hole, but Anderson and Ham missed a birdie putt on that very same hole that would have forced a scorecard playoff. Anderson and Ham shot a final-round 10-under-par 62 to finish in second place at 22-under-par 122.

“We played good on the front nine. We were 6-under-par. On the back nine, we were 4-under,” Anderson said. “We missed a birdie putt on 15 that put us one. We had to do something on 18. Marc and Jody played better than us. They played well today. Tom Matthews put on a great tournament. He puts on the best golf tournament of the year.”

Two teams that started the day four shots back of Anderson and Ham each had rounds of 13-under-par 59 to finish with a two-day score of 123. John Davis and Eddie Meche of Lafayette took third place on a scorecard playoff while Larry Davis and Randy Johnson of Natchez finished in fourth place.

“We just made more putts today than we did (Saturday). We hit the ball better,” John Davis said. “Yesterday we missed five putts from within 10 feet and today we made them. The course is perfect. Greens are rolling excellent. It was a joy to play, even in this 100-degree heat.”

John Davis and Meche had 13 birdies in their round, including birdies on all four of the par-5 holes but just one on the par-3 holes. Larry Davis and Johnson had 11 birdies and an eagle on the par-5 5th hole to go with 11 birdies.

“We started on 4. We chipped in on 5 for eagle and made seven birdies in a row, which ended on No. 13,” Larry Davis said. “Everything was just close. Randy made the longest putt of the weekend to shoot 59.”

“Larry played awesome.” Johnson said. “His long game was working. My short game was working.”

First and second place in the first flight was also determined by a scorecard playoff. The team of Tommy Geoghegan and Stephen Hollingsworth came away in first place on the first playoff hole, No. 3, which Jordan and Henry Farmer three-putted for bogey.

Both teams had rounds of 11-under-par 61 on Sunday to finish with two-day scores of 127.

“We were 9-under through 11 (holes), then we cooled off some toward the end,” Hollingsworth said. “I was hitting it well off the tee and Tommy hit his irons well. We left a couple (of putts) out there coming in.”

“We hit the driver and the wedges today,” Jordan Farmer said. “We were at 11-under with four holes to play and kinda ran out of gas at the end. We bogeyed No. 3 coming in and birdied the last hole (No. 5).”

The team of David Boydstun and Trey Tumminello came out of nowhere to win the second flight after shooting a 9-under-par 63 to finish at 133.

Malcolm Hall and Wes Foster won the third flight on a scorecard playoff after a final-round 72 to finish at 150. Jim and Carter Smith finished second despite shooting a round of 1-under-par 71 — eight shots better than on Saturday — to finish at 150.