12 are Headed to Hazeltine!
Lake St. Louis, MO - It was a hot, sunny day for the U.S. Amateur Final Qualifier, but the heat was no match for the 12 players who qualified. We had 49 players gather at Lake Forest Country Club in Lake St. Louis, all looking for one of the 12 spots in the U.S. Amateur Championship field. Some players received exemptions into the final qualifying stage, while the rest have already been through local qualifying rounds to get here. No matter what got them to this point, they were all on a level playing field now and ready to fight to the finish.
Play began with the first group of the day at 7:30am and would see the final grouping start their day at 10:26am. Live Scores were posted every six holes during the day. Phoenix Campbell of Australia was in the first group of the day and kept himself in the mix throughout the round. Through six holes, Campbell was tied for second at two-under par. Bogeys on holes 6 and 7 dropped him back on the leaderboard, but Campbell fought back to earn three birdies in the last six holes. This would get Campbell to four-under (-4) par and secure his place in the U.S. Amateur Championship. Following behind in the second group of the day was Harry Crockett of England. The Nebraska Huskers’ golf team member was tied for seventh at one-under par through six holes. Crockett turned on the jets, and despite a triple-bogey on Hole 16, he found six birdies in the last 12 holes to get to four-under (-4) par and claim his place in the championship. Campbell and Crockett would end the day together in a tie for eighth.
The third group of the day saw Henry Guan of Irving, Texas and Joshua Ryan of Norristown, Pennsylvania cut things close to the wire. Guan had a slow start to his day, but found some momentum on hole seven through thirteen to card four birdies and get to three-under par. A bogey on Hole 16 dropped Guan back to two-under (-2) par and left him waiting to see if it would be enough. Luckily for the Texan, it would clench him a spot on the cut number. As for Ryan, he held the lead through six holes at three-under par. The Liberty University golfer then had a rough stretch in the middle six holes that erased the score he had and placed him over par. Ryan bounced back to earn two birdies to get back to one-under (-1) par, which would place him just outside the cut line.
Two groups later, Yixiang Wang of the People’s Republic of China and Ethan Evans of Mercer Island, Washington were having themselves a day. Both got off to a rough start with a bogey on the first hole, but this was not the end for them. Through six holes, both players were sitting in a tie for seventh at one-under par. Wang, a University of Memphis golfer, carded seven birdies and an eagle across his round. Wang held the lead at five-under par through twelve holes and would finish the day on top of the leaderboard at six-under (-6) par to qualify for the championship. Evans, a Duke University golfer, had a similar fate with six birdies and an eagle recorded for his round. This round would see Evans finish at six-under (-6) par as well to finish on top and qualify. Evans and Wang would end the day as co-medalists.
In the group directly behind them was Luke Colton of Frisco, Texas. Colton found himself tied for second through six holes at two-under par. A complicated middle stretch left him wanting more of his game, and he would find four birdies in the last five holes. Colton would join Guan in a tie for eleventh and qualifying for the U.S. Amateur on the cut at two-under (-2) par. Nearly half way through the groupings, PJ Maybank of Cheboygan, Michigan and Ryder Cowan of Edmond, Oklahoma found themselves in a comfortable place. The two enjoyed the luck of the draw as they are teammates on the University of Oklahoma men’s golf team. Cowan started off strong to be a part of the tie for second at two-under par. Through twelve he had gained one more stroke, and then secured his place in the championship by finishing the day at five-under (-5) par. Maybank had a slower start to the day and sat at one-under par through six and then through twelve holes. Whether it was pressure from the leaderboard, his teammate, or himself, Maybank pushed forward to get to three-under (-3) par and capture his spot as a qualifier.
Connor Jones of Denver, Colorado never looked back and never let one bad hole affect his round. The Colorado State University golfer was also in the tie for second at two-under par through Hole 6. With seven birdies on the day, Jones got to three-under through twelve and then five-under (-5) par by the end of the round to safely secure his place and join Cowan in a tie for third. Garrett Endicott of San Antonio, Texas was not far behind Jones and was in a similar position. Endicott, a Mississippi State University golfer, sat at two-under par through six and twelve holes. Three birdies in the last five holes gave Endicott the push he needed to meet Jones and Cowan at five-under (-5) par and claim his entry to the championship. Playing with Endicott was Jose Antonio Safa of Mexico. Safa, a golfer for the University of Southern California, worked hard to stay in the mix. He was one-under par through six and then jumped into the tie for fourth at three-under through twelve holes. Holes 16 and 17 proved difficult for Safa, but even with a birdie on the final hole, he would finish at one-under (-1) par, just outside the cut line.
Daniel Stringfellow of Roselle, Illinois started the day with a bogey, but bounced back to not let that happen again. Through six holes, the former Auburn University golfer was one-under par. Stringfellow increased this to two-under through twelve, and finally finished the day with a birdie on eighteen to get to three-under (-3) par. Stringfellow would be the eleventh player to earn his place in the U.S. Amateur and joined Maybank in a tie for eighth. Coming in with the final group of the day was JJ Zimmer of Humboldt, Tennessee. Zimmer, a Middle Tennessee State University golfer, got off to a slow start, but an eagle on Hole 4 would provide some light for the round. Through six and twelve holes Zimmer could not break past one-under par and was looking for a breakthrough. Coming in with birdies on the final two holes, Zimmer jumped up to three-under (-3) par to safely sit within the cut line and be the final player to secure their place in the U.S. Amateur Championship.
At the conclusion of play, exactly twelve players were within the cut and five players sat just one back. There are two alternate positions available for the championship, in the event someone has to withdraw. The five players at one-under (-1) par were Winburne Hughes of Memphis, Tennessee, William Sides of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Joshua Ryan of Norristown, Pennsylvania, Evan Woosley-Reed of Shelbyville, Tennessee, and Jose Antonio Safa of Mexico. Hughes, Sides, and Ryan were all within the first three groups of the day and would have to wait a while to find out their fate. Woosley-Reed and Safa came in later in the day, but still had to wait to see where they would fall. A playoff for the two alternate spots began shortly after the conclusion of the round. Sides had already taken off for the day and subsequently did not play the playoff. The other four entered the playoff, starting on Hole 10. It took three holes to narrow it down to the two places. Jose Antonio Safa claimed the first alternate position while Joshua Ryan claimed the second alternate position.
When the day was done, twelve players had earned their place in the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship field and will make their way to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Those twelve are Yixiang Wang (-6, co-medalist), Ethan Evans (-6, co-medalist), Ryder Cowan (-5), Connor Jones (-5), Garrett Endicott (-5), Phoenix Campbell (-4), Harry Crockett (-4), PJ Maybank (-3), Daniel Stringfellow (-3), JJ Zimmer (-3), Henry Guan (-2), and Luke Colton (-2). Alternate 1 is Jose Antonio Safa (-1) and alternate 2 is Joshua Ryan (-1).