Perhaps it was destiny that Tyler Strafaci would win the 120th U.S. Amateur in dramatic style with an incredible second shot on the final hole at Bandon Dunes late Sunday.
Strafaci, who was as many as five-down to Charlie “Ollie” Osborne in the morning 18 holes of the championship match, rallied then produced an incredible second into the par five 18th, the 36th and final hole of regulation play. After a perfect drive, Strafaci hoisted a four-iron from 246 yards that held its line, reached the green and settled just 25 feet from the hole.
After Osborne’s third stopped about 16 feet for birdie, Strafaci barely missed his eagle, was conceded the birdie then he watched as Osborne missed his bid to take the match to extra holes. It finished one-up for the fifth-year Georgia Tech senior who followed other Tech amateurs who have won this event — Bobby Jones (5 times), Matt Kuchar (1997) and Andy Ogletree (2019). Destiny saw Tyler’s grandfather — Frank Strafaci Sr., win the 1935 Public Links Championship some 85 years ago.
This was the fourth straight match for Strafaci that was decided on the final hole.
Strafaci was five down to Osborne through the first 12 holes of the morning match but he rallied by winning the 13th, 14th and 15th holes then won the 17th and finished the first 18 just one down.
Tyler’s morning comeback nearly matched what matched what Tiger Woods accomplished in the first of his three consecutive victories in 1994 when he rallied from six-down through 13 holes to beat Trip Kuehne at TPC Sawgrass.
For a second consecutive day, the conditions at Bandon Dunes were nearly perfect. The Oregon afternoon was sunny with a gentle breeze. Over the last six holes of the afternoon match, the course was shrouded by fog from the marine layer, creating an erie setting for Strafaci and Osborne.
In the afternoon 18, Tyler birdied the second hole to square the match and it stayed that way through the first six holes. Strafaci took his first lead of the day with birdie at the seventh.
Osborne squared the match with a birdie at the par five 13th, the 31st hole. But Strafaci responded with an incredible tee shot at the 314-yard par four 14th that finished just eight feet from the cup. He made the eagle putt, went one-up, then won the next hole with a par when Osborne got into trouble on the par three. Two-up with three to play looked solid but Osborne won 16 and 17 with a pair of birdies to square the match. After both hit nice drives at 18, Strafaci produced the incredible four-iron shot that would win him the title.
‘That was the first time in my life where I told myself — ‘I’m going to hit a winning shot,” said Strafaci afterward. “But I actually hit a winning golf shot when it mattered the most under the most pressure in amateur golf, because under those circumstances, it’s foggy, it’s different than how I was playing in the first 30 holes, so my distances were a little off. I told myself ‘you’re going to hit it close by hitting the best 4-iron of your life,’ and I stepped back, and I closed my eyes and put my hands over my eyes like that, and I said, ‘This is your time to hit a winning shot. Go get it.’ I’ve done it a bunch of times back home, and I knew I could execute it, and I trusted myself, and I did it.”
Strafaci has planned to turn professional earlier this season but the pandemic changed his plans.
Destiny ruled.
U.S. Amateur Championship Final Scoring:
Stacy Lewis Deals With Slow Play, Wins Scottish Open Playoff:
For two days Stacy Lewis had to endure the turtle-like pace of playing partners Jennifer Song and “All-Day” Azahara Munoz.
It took that threesome nearly six hours to play on Saturday and Song along with Munoz were at it again in Sunday’s pressure-paced final round of the Ladies Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.
“I was pretty much in control for 10 holes then on funky swing on the 11th brought everyone back into it,” was how Lewis described what transpired over the final nine holes on Sunday.
Lewis had worked her way to seven-under for the tournament and held that lead after 10 holes but on the 11th, she pulled her approach to the par four, tangled with the rough then a greenside bunker, eventually taking double-bogey brought gave Song, Munoz, Emily Pedersen and Cheyenne Knight into the mix.
Pedersen posted five-under and waited. She saw Knight join her with the clubhouse lead then they both waited for the final threesome to finish. Lewis took the lead again with a birdie at the 14th but gave that shot back with bogey at 15. Song took herself out of contention when an unplayable lie off her tee ball led to double-bogey at the 15th that dropped her from six-under, back to four. Another bogey at 17 ended her hopes to make it a five-way playoff.
Lewis and Munoz made par at the final hole then they headed out for the playoff along with Pedersen and Knight.
Lewis hit the best shot of the foursome into 18 as he ball stopped pin-high, about 18 feet away. Pederson and Munoz made pars then Lewis hit a perfect putt and buried it in the center of the hole for birdie She then watched Knight miss her birdie attempt to extend the playoff.
“I hit a great second shot,” Lewis said after collecting her 13th career victory and her first since the Portland Classic in 2017. She also showed a lot of patience with the pace of play as her group was on the clock. “I told my caddie that I cannot make one comment today about the pace of play,” said Lewis, who blistered Munoz and Song after their near six-hour round on Saturday. “I had to really kind of stop watching at some points and just kind of go into your own world and think about something else, sing yourself a song or do something,” said Lewis. “You really kind of get out of rhythm and it’s hard to keep things going.”
Lewis will now head to this week’s Women’s Open Championship at Royal Troon. She won the Ladies British back in 2013.
Sam Horsfield Gets Second Win On U.K. Swing:
Sam Horsfield won the Hero Open two weeks ago then added a second victory Sunday at the Celtic Classic.
Horsfield’s final round 67 was good for 18-under par at Celtic Manor’s 2010 course and a two-shot victory over Thomas Detry (67).
After a two-hour weather delay due to afternoon thunderstorms, it was nearly dark when Horsfield sank the putt that made him the 2020 Race to Dubai’s first multiple winner.
Detry’s Belgium countryman, Thomas Pieters finished at 15-under along with England’s Andrew Johnston and 54-hole leader, Scot Connor Syme.
The victory takes 23-year-old Horsfield to the top of the UK Swing mini Order of Merit, into the top ten on the Race to Dubai Rankings and into the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking – his highest ever placing in the global standings.
“I never really felt nervous or felt uncomfortable, maybe because I was in this situation a few weeks ago,” he said. “I’m a little more relaxed than last time I did it. It was good. I felt like I played really solid all day and gave myself a lot of opportunities. After I missed the cut last week I was never concerned. I felt like after your first win and everything that was going on I felt a little mentally drained and I probably should have decided to take the week off. I just wasn’t all there but I knew my game was in good shape so I basically just forgot about last week.”
He was thankful to finish as daylight faded: “It was pretty dark coming down 18. That putt on 18 I couldn’t really see much of what was going on but I was set in stone on finishing that round. I didn’t want to get up at whatever time and finish on Monday morning.”
