Incoming USC freshman Cheng Jin wins Players Amateur
Cheng Jin (Players Amateur photo)
BLUFFTON, SC (July 11, 2016) -- Beijing, China native
Cheng Jin is the 2016 Players Amateur Champion. He
joins an impressive list of past champions including
Rickie Fowler and Bill Haas.
The incoming University of Southern California
freshman
started the final round in the lead but bogeyed the first
three holes giving several others a chance at the win. “I
had an awful start. I just tried to calm myself down and
stick to my game,” Jin told reporters.
He lost the lead to University of Alabama’s Davis
Riley,
after Riley birdied No. 9 and for the next several
holes, the lead changed several times with Patrick
Martin, Travis Smyth and Harrison Endycott all seeing
their names at the top of the leaderboard.
18-year-old Jin regained the lead after he birdied
the
16th hole and went to 12-under. His next birdie on No.
17 secured his win.
Australian National Team member Endycott was 6-
under for the day and ended the tournament tied for
second place at 11-under with Vanderbilt’s Patrick
Martin. After his round, Endycott told reporters he was
disappointed with his second place finish but was happy
with the way he played, “I just managed to get the ball
in the right places today. There are some really tough
pins and I managed really really well to always give
myself a scoring opportunity. I was very proud of myself
the way I did that today.”
Martin told reporters his game is in the right spot,
“I
have been playing well all summer. I have been
knocking on the door. This week I put myself in position
again and each week I continue to feel more
comfortable in that spot.”
Jin’s win earns him an exemption into the 2017
RBC
Heritage, Presented by Boeing April 10-16 over the
famed Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island.
The 18-year-old is looking forward to the new
experience, “It will be my first PGA TOUR event besides
The Masters, I am really looking forward to it.” He
received an exemption into the 2016 Masters after
winning the 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur.
Contestants in the 17th annual Players Amateur
shot a
total of 120 birdies. The tournament’s “Two Club”
donates 2 dollars for every birdie made. $9,840 will be
distributed to the Berkeley Hall Charitable Foundation,
Heritage Classic Foundation and the South Carolina
Junior Golf Foundation.
Editors Note: Story courtesy Heritage Classic
Foundation Marketing Director Angela McSwain
ABOUT THE Players Amateur
While competing in the 1999 US Amateur
Championship at Pebble Beach, former US
Walker Cup
Team members, Duke Delcher and Tom
McKnight
discussed the formation of a premier 72-hole
stroke
play amateur golf tournament. The inaugural
Players
Amateur was held the next summer. Former
British
Open Champion, Ben Curtis, was the winner of
the
2000 event. In 2004, the Heritage Classic
Foundation
began running the event. The Heritage Classic
Foundation was formed in 1987 as a 501 (c) (3),
not-
for-profit organization, it serves as the
operational
and financial oversight group for the PGA Tour
RBC
Heritage Classic. The Foundation distributes all
charitable funds generated from the tournaments
to
charity. The winner of The Players Amateur gets
an
exemption into the PGA Tour RBC Heritage
Classic, as
well as the Master of the Amateurs tournament
in
Melbourne, Australia.
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