Other players might have been inclined to take more risks Wednesday and attack Augusta Country Club, teasingly diminutive by tournament standards. Not Cone, who checks in at 5-foot-10 on a generous set of spikes and prospers on his guile, not his brawn.

“I just played it really smart. I hit one driver in two days out here,” Cone said. “Someone said it right: Another 1,000 yards and this could be a golf course on tour. I bet a lot of guys left here today thinking about how they could have done if they had played it different.”

Cone’s only serious afterthought was in what part of his pickup truck he could safely store the crystal vase for the trip back to Bennington, Vt.

The 29-year-old Cone shot 66, then tapped in for par on the first playoff hole to defeat Jimmy Lytle for his second Maine Open championship in three years.

Four birdies in a five-hole stretch of Wednesday’s back nine were the highlight of an admittedly mundane two days for Cone.

He missed three more birdie putts that would have won the tournament outright, including one in the playoff. Before that, there was the agony of an errant eight-footer on No. 17. Then, a 10-foot try that trickled wide on the final hole of regulation.

“I thought I was going to have to get lucky to even get in a playoff,” Cone said.

But others faded, and most of the red numbers on day two came from deep in the field.

Lytle shot a blistering 64 to offset his opening-day 73 and tie Cone at 3-under.

Kevin Roy, one of Tuesday’s three co-leaders with a 68, missed birdie putts from inside six feet at No. 12, 15 and 16 and three-putted the two-tiered No. 14 for a devastating bogey.

He also missed longer birdie bids at No. 17 and No. 18 and dropped into a three-way tie with Jason Parajeckas and John Elliott at 2-under 138.

“My caddy talked to one of the (officials) before 16 and told me I needed to get one going in. I had opportunities on all three,” Roy said.

Cone also pushed a would-be clincher right of the cup from about eight feet away on the playoff hole. Lytle already had missed a longer attempt and had three feet coming back for par.

That one also stayed on the lip, and Cone quickly cashed in his second chance at the $9,000 champion’s check.

“Jimmy’s a great player. It’s unfortunate what happened and I’ve done it before,” Cone said. “You don’t expect guys to miss that, but when it happens you take advantage and leave.”

Lytle, who had carded five bogeys and a double bogey Tuesday, had only one Wednesday. Among his seven birdies were three in a row to close out the round.

Then it became a game of hurry-up-and-wait. Lytle was tied for 36th after the opening day and teed off at 11 a.m.

Cone went out at noon. The lead group of Roy, Jeremiah Shields and Jesse Larson commenced at 1:10 p.m. and needed more than five hours to complete its round.

“Jimmy had a good, long wait,” Cone said. “I was here about 40 minutes, went and hit about eight balls, hit a couple of putts and we went.”

Cone hit a 3-wood off the tee to 93 yards, then used a sand wedge for his approach.

It was consistent with his week-long strategy to tame a 6,214-yard monster he’d never seen before.

“I’m not one of the longer guys out here. There’s some guys that really kill it. I’m sure they can stand up on some of these tees and lick their chops because they can hit it on the green,” Cone said. “But the way this course was playing, you could play even par for six holes and the one you try to get it on, you hit it in the rough and make double (bogey) and that changes your whole day.”

Cone, Lytle (Massachusetts) and Roy (New York) are natives of the northeast based in Florida in an effort to further their careers.

Roy, 22, a recent graduate of Long Beach State, was playing in only his second pro tournament.

“I’m just kind of getting my feet wet,” Roy said. “It would be great to be going down that fairway (for the playoff), but I really can’t complain.”

Jeff Seavey of Samoset Resort in Rockport was the top Maine pro at 144. Jack Wyman of Falmouth (143) shared low amateur honors with Colin Brennan of Massachusetts.

Cone skipped last year’s open after winning at Portland’s Riverside club in 2010.

“For me it was easier to lay back 20 yards and hit a safe shot in rather than get another 20 and end up in the rough. The rough was really penal this week,” Cone said. “This may upset some people in Portland, but Augusta is more of a golf course. Riverside you can just wail it around there and you’ve got to make putts. My short game is more my forte.”

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