Top 10 storylines: Williams' Western run
12/26/2012 | by Golfweek
As 2012 comes to a close, we take a look at the year's top stories. Today, Chris Williams' Western Am win
By Ron Balicki, Golfweek
There were plenty of good stories that came out of amateur golf this past season, exciting, happy endings as well as disappointing, heart- breaking endings.
From Steven Fox winning the U.S. Amateur, to Nathan Smith capturing a record fourth U.S. Mid- Amateur to a 14-year-old from China qualifying for next year’s Masters -- and a whole lot more along the way.
I’ve been covering amateur golf at just about every level for some 30 years and it seems each year provides its own share of interesting stories, whether in victory or defeat.
Compiling a list of the best of them for 2012 was difficult, but here is a list of my top 10:
No. 7: For the second consecutive year,
Chris Williams, a senior at
Washington,
set a tournament
record in the 72-hole stroke-play
qualifying segment of the Western
Amateur,
this
time topping his
old mark with a 17-under 271 score.
Unlike the previous year when he lost his
opening match,
Williams went on to win all four of his
matches to claim the title in the 110th
Western Am at Exmoor
County Club just outside Chicago.
He clinched the title with a 1-up victory over recent Texas A&M grad Jordan Russell in the 18-hole championship match.
Williams became the first player to win both medalist and championship honors since Danny Lee in 2008. Prior to that, Bubba Dickerson (he shared medalist honors with Matthew Abbott) accomplished the feat in 2001.
There were plenty of good stories that came out of amateur golf this past season, exciting, happy endings as well as disappointing, heart- breaking endings.
From Steven Fox winning the U.S. Amateur, to Nathan Smith capturing a record fourth U.S. Mid- Amateur to a 14-year-old from China qualifying for next year’s Masters -- and a whole lot more along the way.
I’ve been covering amateur golf at just about every level for some 30 years and it seems each year provides its own share of interesting stories, whether in victory or defeat.
Compiling a list of the best of them for 2012 was difficult, but here is a list of my top 10:
|
He clinched the title with a 1-up victory over recent Texas A&M grad Jordan Russell in the 18-hole championship match.
Williams became the first player to win both medalist and championship honors since Danny Lee in 2008. Prior to that, Bubba Dickerson (he shared medalist honors with Matthew Abbott) accomplished the feat in 2001.
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