Saturday
Aug062011
Tracy beats Cantlay 1-up for Western Amateur
Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 1:18PM
Writing from Glenview, Ill.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Ethan Tracy is a soft-spoken Ohio native who hits most fairways from the tee, most greens from the fairway, and makes every putt he needs to.
Patrick Cantlay found out Saturday afternoon at North Shore Country Club. Tracy, ignoring Cantlay's glittering resume, scored a 1-up victory to win the 109th Western Amateur Championship.
Tracy did so by making birdies on three of the last eight holes, and on five of the last 13.
"Did I?" Tracy said. "I was just trying to stay up on Patrick."
That he did, though it wasn't easy. Cantlay, whose low amateur achievement in the U.S. Open moved him to No. 1 in the amateur rankings, also birdied three of the last eight holes.
Tracy, who entered the week ranked 142nd in the world, hadn't finished higher than eighth this summer, but proved himself worthy for this venerable title beginning on the par-4 11th hole. Cantlay had just hammered home a 45-foot birdie putt that climbed a hill and came down the other side before disappearing. Tracy answered with a 20-footer from the back of the green to retain the 1-up lead he assumed when Cantlay bogeyed the 10th.
"It definitely gave me some confidence," Tracy said. "To make a putt like that to halve was important in a match like this, especially because it came down to the last hole."
That was thanks to the fine play of each player, which wowed the gallery of about 500. Cantlay squared the match with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, but Tracy reassumed the lead with an 18-footer for birdie on the par-4 13th. Ultimately, that was the difference, though not without a skipped heartbeat on the 18th.
Tracy pulled his drive on the home hole to within six feet of out-of-bounds, and three feet short of a mighty oak. Thus jailed, he had no choice but to chip back to the fairway, and then plopped his approach eight feet from the cup.
Cantlay had a 12-footer for birdie, but ran it by the edge of the hole. Tracy saved his par and annexed the title.
"It's really special," Tracy said. "This is the best I've played. I worked the ball both ways, and the last two rounds of stroke play, I started rolling the ball well. I've improved, but I still have improvement to go."
Cantlay, who had squeezed into the Sweet Sixteen via a playoff, and knocked off second-ranked Peter Uihlein in his first round match, groused about his play, never mind that he won the first hole and kept the pressure on Tracy to the bitter end.
"I played poorly, to be honest," said Cantlay, a 19-year-old UCLA sophomore from Los Alamitos, Calif. "I never made any putts. I played awful in stroke play. And Ethan played great this afternoon.
"You can't win all the time in golf. You play 150 guys."
At the Western Amateur, it always comes down to two, and then one. This year, the one is a 21-year-old sophomore at Arkansas who hails from Hilliard, Ohio and was playing in his third Western Amateur. Knocked out of the Sweet Sixteen in the first round last year, Tracy selected Arkansas over Tennessee, Louisville and Ohio State, but was still delighted to be presented with a 2011 program signed by no less than Jack Nicklaus, whose college career at Ohio State included winning the Western Amateur 50 years ago this March.
"I've never met Jack," Ethan said. "I passed him a couple of times at the Memorial Tournament."
Now he's got Nicklaus' autograph, plus the champion's gold medal, plus a trophy, and knows his name will go on the George Thorne Trophy along with Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and a host of other luminaries.
Tracy, who stayed at a KOA Campground with his father-caddie Dan all week, which meant a one-hour trek to outstate Union each way, scored a 1-up victory over Cheng-Tsung Pan of Mialoi, Taiwan, in the morning semifinal, while Cantlay won his match against Jeffrey Kang of Los Angeles – and Southern California, making it a UCLA-USC match – to advance to the championship round.
Amazingly, Tracy isn't in the U.S. Amateur field, and winning the second-oldest amateur championship in the country doesn't get you into the oldest. He's the first alternate out of the site he tried to qualify from, which means he has to cross his fingers that someone drops out before action at Erin Hills commences on Aug. 22.
He's probably not going to be picked for the Walker Cup team, either. None of that mattered as he pondered his achievement.
"This is No. 1," he decided.
– Tim Cronin
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Ethan Tracy is a soft-spoken Ohio native who hits most fairways from the tee, most greens from the fairway, and makes every putt he needs to.
Patrick Cantlay found out Saturday afternoon at North Shore Country Club. Tracy, ignoring Cantlay's glittering resume, scored a 1-up victory to win the 109th Western Amateur Championship.
Tracy did so by making birdies on three of the last eight holes, and on five of the last 13.
"Did I?" Tracy said. "I was just trying to stay up on Patrick."
That he did, though it wasn't easy. Cantlay, whose low amateur achievement in the U.S. Open moved him to No. 1 in the amateur rankings, also birdied three of the last eight holes.
Tracy, who entered the week ranked 142nd in the world, hadn't finished higher than eighth this summer, but proved himself worthy for this venerable title beginning on the par-4 11th hole. Cantlay had just hammered home a 45-foot birdie putt that climbed a hill and came down the other side before disappearing. Tracy answered with a 20-footer from the back of the green to retain the 1-up lead he assumed when Cantlay bogeyed the 10th.
"It definitely gave me some confidence," Tracy said. "To make a putt like that to halve was important in a match like this, especially because it came down to the last hole."
That was thanks to the fine play of each player, which wowed the gallery of about 500. Cantlay squared the match with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, but Tracy reassumed the lead with an 18-footer for birdie on the par-4 13th. Ultimately, that was the difference, though not without a skipped heartbeat on the 18th.
Tracy pulled his drive on the home hole to within six feet of out-of-bounds, and three feet short of a mighty oak. Thus jailed, he had no choice but to chip back to the fairway, and then plopped his approach eight feet from the cup.
Cantlay had a 12-footer for birdie, but ran it by the edge of the hole. Tracy saved his par and annexed the title.
"It's really special," Tracy said. "This is the best I've played. I worked the ball both ways, and the last two rounds of stroke play, I started rolling the ball well. I've improved, but I still have improvement to go."
Cantlay, who had squeezed into the Sweet Sixteen via a playoff, and knocked off second-ranked Peter Uihlein in his first round match, groused about his play, never mind that he won the first hole and kept the pressure on Tracy to the bitter end.
"I played poorly, to be honest," said Cantlay, a 19-year-old UCLA sophomore from Los Alamitos, Calif. "I never made any putts. I played awful in stroke play. And Ethan played great this afternoon.
"You can't win all the time in golf. You play 150 guys."
At the Western Amateur, it always comes down to two, and then one. This year, the one is a 21-year-old sophomore at Arkansas who hails from Hilliard, Ohio and was playing in his third Western Amateur. Knocked out of the Sweet Sixteen in the first round last year, Tracy selected Arkansas over Tennessee, Louisville and Ohio State, but was still delighted to be presented with a 2011 program signed by no less than Jack Nicklaus, whose college career at Ohio State included winning the Western Amateur 50 years ago this March.
"I've never met Jack," Ethan said. "I passed him a couple of times at the Memorial Tournament."
Now he's got Nicklaus' autograph, plus the champion's gold medal, plus a trophy, and knows his name will go on the George Thorne Trophy along with Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and a host of other luminaries.
Tracy, who stayed at a KOA Campground with his father-caddie Dan all week, which meant a one-hour trek to outstate Union each way, scored a 1-up victory over Cheng-Tsung Pan of Mialoi, Taiwan, in the morning semifinal, while Cantlay won his match against Jeffrey Kang of Los Angeles – and Southern California, making it a UCLA-USC match – to advance to the championship round.
Amazingly, Tracy isn't in the U.S. Amateur field, and winning the second-oldest amateur championship in the country doesn't get you into the oldest. He's the first alternate out of the site he tried to qualify from, which means he has to cross his fingers that someone drops out before action at Erin Hills commences on Aug. 22.
He's probably not going to be picked for the Walker Cup team, either. None of that mattered as he pondered his achievement.
"This is No. 1," he decided.
– Tim Cronin
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