Rank, 31, defies age in winning Western Amateur

August 3, 2019 | by Julie Williams of AmateurGolf.com

Garrett Rank (Charles Cherney/Western Golf Association)

Garrett Rank played his way through one of the toughest tests of golf on the summer schedule, winning one for the mid-ams.

The vast majority of the Western Amateur field was made up of collegians – incoming freshmen, current players and fresh graduates. Then there’s Garrett Rank, a 31-year-old Canadian who competes in golf in the summer and referees NHL hockey in the winter. Rank is one of the most impressive mid-amateurs in the game, yet his legend grew this week at Point O’Woods Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich.

Rank outlasted the kids for a Western Amateur title – a win that's unheard of for a thirtysomething in today’s amateur climate. In fact, he becomes the first mid-amateur to win this title since 1997.

The foreshadowing came from Rank’s own mouth on Friday evening, after playing his way to the semifinals.

“I’ve been playing a lot of really good golf the last three or four weeks,” he said.

We really hope Hoisting the Thorne becomes a thing. pic.twitter.com/MHC1r6FT6u
— WGA Championships (@WGAChamps) August 3, 2019

True to his word, Rank started his summer with an 11th-place finish at the Dogwood Invitational. As he accepted his award for low mid-amateur honors, Rank made one thing clear: He still wants to beat the young guys, and he still very much believes he can.

Rank made a remarkable five starts in the seven weeks between the Dogwood and the Western. He finished fifth at last week’s Porter Cup.

Rank’s trip to the final match included head-to-head wins against UCLA’s Hidetoshi Yoshihara, Clemson's Turk Pettit and Arizona’s David Laskin.

On Saturday afternoon, he took on Ohio State graduate Daniel Wetterich, another player who has shown up week in and week out on the amateur circuit. The two men traded the lead back and forth, with Rank making birdie at the ninth to take a 2-up lead into the back nine. He won by an eventual 3-and-2 margin.

“I’ve had a lot of close calls in big events,” Rank said. “To finally break through is huge. I’m a big believer in the more you put yourself under pressure you learn something every time. I relied on that.”

The win gives Rank an exemption into next year’s Evans Scholars Invitational at The Glen Club in Glenview, Illinois. Wetterich also received an invitation into the Korn Ferry Tour event.

“I’m really excited about how I played,” Wetterich said. “Overall, I’m really content with the week, and I will build on what I did [Saturday] going forward.”

Quotes from the Western Golf Association used in this report

Results: Western Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
Win	Garrett Rank	, Canada	1500	72-67-70-65=274
Runner-Up	Daniel Wetterich	Cincinnati, OH	1200	66-68-69-68=271
Semifinals	Ricky Castillo	Yorba Linda, CA	900	71-66-69-68=274
Semifinals	David Laskin	Elk Grove, CA	900	68-66-74-66=274
Quarterfinals	Davis Thompson	St. Simons, GA	700	67-68-65-67=267

View full results for Western Amateur

About the Western Amateur

Rank, 31, defies age in winning Western Amateur

Invitational event, and the most important tournament in American amateur golf outside of the U.S. Amateur. With a grueling schedule, it's quite possibly the hardest amateur tournament to win. 156 invited players come from across the globe to play on...