Thursday, June 22, 2023
Writing from Midlothian, Illinois
Hans Risvaer came into the 105th Western Junior Championship with no expectations, and then exceeded them.
Risaver, an 18-year-old from Miami, played Midlothian Country Club to near-perfection on Thursday, with rounds of 66 and 69 to run away with the Western Junior. His four-round total of 10-under 270 earned him a seven-stroke victory over fellow Floridian Noah Kent and Jacob Modleski of Noblesville, Ind.
“Today was the toughest day,” Risaver said. “The last 18 the wind picked up tremendously. Birdie-bogey on the front nine, and on the back, I made some good putts and made some good par saves. I kinda kept the momentum going.”
Risaver led Cooper Claycomb of Bowling Green, Ky., by a stroke entering the 36-hole final day, but extended his lead quickly as Claycomb faltered with a morning 73. Only 10 other sub-70 rounds were recorded in the morning, and none surpassed Risaver’s 66, which featured six birdies. And allowed him to lead Modleski by six strokes at lunch.
Often, that’s a recipe for losing one’s concentration, but Risaver birdied the par-4 first hole, and despite an even-par 35 on the front, would not be challenged. By the middle of the afternoon round, he was more worried that his father Oybind, who caddied for him, would make it around, but there was no problem with his endurance either.
While Risaver considered his second shot on the par-5 seventh hole in the morning, an excursion from the rough with a 3-wood over some trees that landed on the green and set up a two-putt birdie, as his signature moment, he left no doubt that he deserved joining Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa and Hunter Mahan, among the winners since the WGA switched the championship to stroke play in 1999, with a 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th green.
“That was a little bonus,” Risaver said. “It was a left-to-right slider. I just picked by spot and put some good speed on it and watched it trickle in.”
To the center of the cup, that is.
“The course was playing tough,” Risaver said. “Hitting into some of the greens was like hitting into cement. You had to play towards the middle of the green and give yourself a putt.”
Aside from glory and a spot on a glittering list of winners, the victory earned Risaver a spot in this summer’s Western Amateur at North Shore Country Club, which will play about 400 yards longer than Midlothian’s 6,911, as far as it can be stretched without putting a tee on 147th Street. (By comparison to Risaver’s 270, Billy Casper scored 8-under 276 in 1969 and 12-under 272 in 1973 on what was a 6,654-yard par-71 course.)
“This is amazing,” Risaver said. “The WGA is an amazing organization.”
Because Risaver is entering Central Florida University this fall, he’s a one-and-done participant in the Western Junior. But what a one.
– Tim Cronin