If only it had been that easy yesterday at A.L. Gustin Golf Course.

Murphy, who set the pace in the 36-hole tournament with a bogey-free round of 66 while playing in the morning’s first pairing on Saturday, had to overcome his share of setbacks as he played in the final threesome yesterday.

The New Bloomfield native and Lincoln University standout bogeyed three of the first six holes to fall out of the lead. A double-bogey at No. 7 pushed him three shots back of playing partners Brian Haskell of St. Joseph and Dean Merrill of Kansas City. It took precision iron play in windy conditions and solid putting to produce a 5-under 30 on the back nine and rally for the win.

“Stepping on 10 tee, I was just kind of kicking myself in the butt and just saying, ‘Get it together,’ ” Murphy said. “I’m just proud that I stuck it out and got it done.”

His confidence had to be shaken. He drove the ball erratically in the early going, failed to roll in a putt from longer than 3 feet — whether it was for birdie, par or bogey — and was still trying to figure out how to read the wind streaming over Gustin’s slopes.

Luck also seemed to be against Murphy, whose second shot on No. 7 clipped the very top of a fir tree — a spot that “wasn’t any bigger than your pinky,” Haskell said — and ricocheted into the overgrown grass some 30 yards short and left of the green. From there, he needed two shots to get onto the putting surface and two putts to get in the hole, falling to 5-over early in the round.

“I was just thinking, ‘Just try to put a band-aid on it,’ ” Murphy said. “I was like, ‘Just get me done with nine.’ ”

His father, Ron Murphy, was thinking something else as he walked along with his son, He was thinking he might be a jinx.

Ron hadn’t watched Aaron play much in his senior season at Lincoln, during which he was named Heartland Conference player of the year and climbed as high as No. 26 in the Division II golf rankings. Ron missed Aaron’s comeback victory at the Southwest Baptist Invitational last October in Bolivar, only learning of the accomplishment after Aaron texted him the words, “I won.”

In the one tournament Ron was able to catch, Aaron struggled.

So after Aaron squandered his birdie chance on No. 9, Ron made himself scarce and let his son continue to the 10th tee without him.

It was likely just a coincidence that Murphy drew an almost perfect tee shot onto the green on the par-3 10th, though he failed to capitalize when he missed another makeable birdie opportunity.

Finally, on the par-4 11th, Murphy gave himself a chance he couldn’t miss as he dropped his approach inside of 3 feet from the cup. His first birdie of the day brought him back to even-par for the tournament and within one stroke of Haskell and Merrill.

Murphy had to wait for Haskell — who eagled the par-5 12th — to make bogeys at 13 and 14 before he was back in a tie for the lead.

Two more laser-aimed second shots and one more birdie clinched the victory for Murphy.

“Like I told him on 18, I shook his hand and I told him, ‘That was the way to hang together,’ ” said Haskell, whose final-round 71 left him tied with Merrill for second place at 1-under.

Scott Hovis, the executive director of the Missouri Golf Association, joined Hickman graduate and Missouri golfer Chris Johnson, nine-time Kiwanis Columbia champion Dee Sanders and Jeff Johnson in a tie for fourth at 2-over.

Rich Gleghorn of Springfield ran away with first place in the senior division. He followed his opening-round 65 with a 66 to finish at 9-under. That was five strokes better than runner-up Robert Trittler of Wentzville and seven better than Chesterfield’s Don Bliss, the defending champion.