Brad Nurski was in a fairly comfortable position as he walked onto the 18th green Wednesday afternoon.  He faced a 15-foot putt for birdie.  He could have 12-putted and still won.  That would be comfortable.

Nurski overcame brutal heat and a collection of most of the top golfers in the state to walk away with a stunning 11-shot victory in the 15th annual Missouri Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Jefferson City Country Club.

Nurski had finished third, fifth and second (losing in a playoff) the past three years in this event. On this day, he hoisted the championship trophy.  "It's very satisfying, getting the money off my back," said Nurski, 33, of St. Joseph. "I can breathe a little easier."

He was breathing easy long before this was officially over.

In Wednesday's 36-hole finale, Nurski entered the day holding a five-shot lead over Nick Wilson, who won the State Amateur Championship last month.

The first 18, Wilson made it a bit interesting, shooting a 3-under 33 on the front nine to get within three.  "I putted really well the first nine today," Wilson said.

That moved Wilson to 7-under. By the end of the day, however, he was even par, thanks in large part to a faulty putter.

Nurski shot a pair of 71s --- two of only nine rounds under par on the day. And there were 102 rounds played.

His lead was four after the first 18. Wilson needed something to happen, quickly, and it certainly did.

For Nurski.

After both parred No. 1, Nurski's par and birdie on the next two holes picked up three shots and the lead was suddenly seven.

Seven up, 15 to play. It was over.

Time to head to the AC.

"First and foremost, my putting and chipping this week were as good as they've ever been," said Nurski, who finished at 11-under 277. "I saved a lot of pars getting up and down. That's what it takes to win, grinding out some pars.

"I only had four bogeys the entire week, which is pretty good around here."

Wilson still finished second, but he had five three-putts in the final 27 holes and that ended his run. He didn't one-putt a green on the second 18 until 17.

"I was just off a fraction with my putter," said Wilson, 23, of Columbia. "I was making those putts all week, I just couldn't get the speed right today. I either hit it too hard or not hard enough.

"But all in all, Brad deserves it. He's a great guy and he's a lot of fun to play with and he played great today. Hats off to him."

Nurski, with hat on, cruised across the finish line.

"I kind of knew, going to the back nine, I could coast a little bit, make some pars and play safe," he said.

To be sure, he practiced safe golf on 18. With OB left, he drove it 100 yards right of the trouble, ending up in the first fairway.

"It was not," Nurski said with a smile, "going out of bounds."

His second shot ended up 15 feet past the hole. 12 putts to win.

"I was actually trying to make it," he said. "I wanted to atone for the bogey I made on 15, that's why I ran it two or three feet by.

"But that's okay, I made it coming back."

Nurski now has three Missouri "majors," as he won the State Amateur in 2010 and the Mid-Amateur last year.

"This is right up there with those," he said. "It's just an unbelievable feeling."

Jefferson City's Kirk Farmer was a last-second entry into the tournament, and stood in third place entering the final 36 holes after posting rounds of 70-71.

Wednesday wasn't his day --- as was the case for most of the 52 players remaining after Tuesday's cut. Farmer shot 76-75, the exact averages for the final two rounds, and finished at 4-over 292.

"I'm disappointed ... I wanted to compete a little better," Farmer said. "I just couldn't get the putts to fall."

The greens were as fast as your newly-paved driveway, and many of the pin placements were on slopes the size of Buicks.

"It was windy and really hot and the pins were tough," Farmer said. "These were a lot tougher conditions than we normally have out here."

No. 2, well ... let's just say it wasn't kind to Farmer on this day.

It's a 574-yard par 5, which he would normally chew up and spit out with his length off the tee. But he bogeyed it the first round, then made a double bogey the second round.

"I hit the trees too many times, you're not supposed to do that," he said.

But Farmer was even par the rest of the way and finished in a tie for seventh. While he was 15 shots behind Nurski, he was only four shots removed from second place.

"(Wednesday) was disappointing," Farmer said, "but overall, I had a good week. I had a lot of fun."

Here are the results for other area golfers who made the cut: Wilson Sundvold, Columbia, tied for 10th (294); J.D. Nash, Dixon, tied for 19th (299); Dan Frost, Columbia, 25th (300); Alex Knoll, Westphalia/Helias, tied for 28th (302); Cy Moritz, Owensville, tied for 35th (305); and Jay Rader, Columbia, tied for 43rd (309).

Lastly, here's how Jefferson City Country Club withstood the test this week. It yielded six eagles (three on par 4s, three on par 5s), 627 birdies, 3,561 pars, 1,613 bogeys, 308 double bogeys and 77 'others.' Stroke average: 77.3.

Well played, well defended.