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Evan White defeated Tyler Kertson 2&1 to capture a momentous 95th Arizona Amateur Championship win at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club on Saturday. Battling the heat and the daunting Jack Nicklaus golf course was nothing to take lightly, but the Texas State incoming sophomore rose to the challenge with a victorious week.
White, a 19-year old from Lindale Texas, emerged victorious against some stiff competition to fight his way to the top after entering match-play drawing the No. 39 seed.
“I ended up making the cut by four,” said White “And that was just huge for my confidence, feeling like that, and I knew that no matter how I felt on the range before each match I knew I could just go out there and scrape it around and somehow get out a victory.”
The championship match started off on a shaky note for White after missing a four-footer for par. Fear not, the young player fired back with a birdie two holes later to bring the match back to even. The back nine is where the blood started pumping as both competitors knew the high stakes.
“My par putt on number four was huge because he just had to two putt for par and I had twelve feet for par. That was a huge putt to keep the momentum going and keep it tied We were all square for a long time. To get 1 up through nine- I wanted to be up going into the back nine,” the champion said.
Kertson, who was down one after the turn, held his ground saving par on the 10th, to bring the match back to even. The match remained a draw though 14 holes until White converted a birdie on the 16 to regain the lead. It was on the 17th hole that White drained a 30-foot putt, putting a dramatic end to the tournament to claim the coveted Arizona Amateur title.
“I was in shock for a second,” said White eluding to his miraculous play on 17. “I was like, did that really just happen? I wasn’t expecting it. It’s one of those putts you’re just trying to get a par, get out of there with a par and put the pressure on him to make his putt. But it went in, and that was very special.
White proved his skills and perseverance in this tournament and is sure to have an exciting future as he enters his second year of college golf. He has a very impressive resume after only his first year at Texas State and can now add this victory to the books.
ABOUT THE Arizona Amateur
The event will play host to a maximum field size of 156
players for qualifying rounds, with the field cut to the
top 64 players for the match play championship, all
competing in one division. The event will consist of a
36-hole qualifier, followed by a 64-player match play
championship.
View Complete Tournament Information