Fore! Out-of-state golfer drives away with a prize way above par

By Kate Northrop

OTTAWA LAKE, Mich. — An Ohio man thought he would stop at a local Michigan Lottery retailer while on a golf trip so as not to miss out on his usual Powerball purchase and ended up taking home a $150,000 prize.

One Ohio man wanted to make sure he got in his routine Powerball plays while he was away from his home state of Ohio, and much to his surprise, he found himself claiming a $150,000 lottery prize in Michigan instead.

Donovan Reynolds, 68, hit a fore-tune when his golf outing in Michigan inadvertently landed him a $150,000 Powerball prize.

"I typically play Powerball in Ohio, but I was in Michigan for the day golfing, so I bought my ticket while I was here," Reynolds told the Michigan Lottery.

He stopped at Big Daddy's Truck Stop on Saint Anthony Road in Ottawa Lake, a retailer down the road from a golf club and just ten minutes away from the Michigan-Ohio border. There, he bought a Powerball ticket and added the Power Play option for an extra dollar.

In the July 23 drawing, his preferred numbers hit a hole in one. Reynolds matched four out of five white ball numbers plus the Powerball number to win the game's $50,000 prize. Since the Power Play multiplier for that drawing was 3, he tripled the amount to $150,000.

"I checked the winning numbers the next day and froze when I saw I matched four white balls and the Powerball," Reynolds recalled. "I was stunned! I have been playing these numbers for a while, and they finally paid off."

The winning numbers in the July 23 Powerball drawing were 2, 18, 19, 25, and 35, with Powerball number 25.

While recently claiming his prize at Michigan Lottery headquarters in Lansing, he told Lottery officials that he plans on putting his winnings in his daughter's college fund.

The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Monday, Aug. 18 currently stands at $605 million.

Powerball is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.

Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com). The USA Mega website provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States' two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Donovan Reynolds' winning ticket worth $150,000 shows that he picked his own numbers — numbers he says he's been playing for a while.