“I played really well all week,” said Chirravuri, 19, a Pepperdine transfer after spending his freshman year at the University of Southern California. “I think I won (No.) 18 three times, and you need to win 18 if you’re going to win this tournament. I played great coming in, Kiko played awesome as well. He made so many putts that kept the match going.”
Coelho trailed most of the match, falling behind on the second hole and trailing by two on the 12th tee. But he battled back with a putting display for the ages, one-putting holes No. 12 through 17, the last of which was for a birdie to tie the match.Hole 18 | 99th Arizona Amateur Championship at Desert Highlands
— Arizona Golf Association (@AZGolfAssn) August 12, 2023
MAHANTH. CHIRRAVURI. FOR. EAGLE. AND. THE. WIN.
25 feet for eagle and the 99th Arizona Amateur Championship is won by Chandler, Ariz.'s Chirravuri. He beats Kiko Coelho 1-up. Congratulations! #AZGolf pic.twitter.com/a4DzNd7VuD
Chirravuri did his best to withstand Coelho’s back-nine putting display by countering with some outstanding iron play. Approaches to the back-to-back Par-3 15th and 16th holes ended up five and eight feet from the cup, respectively.
He would convert the first birdie, but not the second, moving to the 17th tee up one. Coelho hit his second shot greenside left, navigating a chip to five feet for birdie. Chirravuri could not get up and down from behind the green in two, losing the hole and heading to 18 with the match tied.
“I hit a great putt, and it just went in – it was kind of a tough putt as well, it broke quite a bit,” said Chirravuri, a member of two Arizona High School State Championship teams, and an individual State Champion at Hamilton High School in Chandler. “For that to go in at that moment was pretty cool, and I’m just so happy that it went in.”