Jay Leng's Long Climb: From No. 199 to Western Amateur Champion

Jay Leng Jr. arrived at Beverly Country Club with a college match-play record of 2-6-2. He left with the George R. Thorne Trophy.

That number is the strangest thing about the 124th Western Amateur. Over two seasons at Stanford, in a format the Cardinal have played more than most, Leng had won twice and lost six times. Then in three days in Chicago he beat a teammate, a No. 4 seed, the medalist and the runner-up, and never once looked like a player learning on the job.