RED HILL, Australia (Nov. 9, 2014) — Taylor MacDonald, who has been having a solid 2014 amateur season despite not winning an event, finally captured a title, and he did it in record fashion.
Shooting 271 at the Federal Open Amateur, MacDonald won the event by just one shot, but still managed to set a tournament record for 72 holes.
In the first three rounds, 66-67-65 were his numbers and it allowed him to only need 73 on Sunday to narrowly close out the tournament.
Heading into the Federal Open Amateur, MacDonald had a second-place finish at the Keperra Bowl (where he won in 2013), a final-16 appearance at the Western Amateur, and a T4 at the Western Amateur 72-hole qualifying.
Daniel Gale and Patrick Wilson tied for second place at 272, with Gale firing 67 on Sunday to come within a stroke of tying MacDonald.
Wilson's opening-round 65 was tied for the lead with Ben Eccles before Wilson went super low on Friday with a 63. Rounds of 75-69 over the weekend still gave him a share of second place but the third-round 75 ended up coming back to haunt him.
Jordan Zunic and Ryan Ruffels tied for fourth place at 274, with Zunic also posting a nice 67 in the final round to make up significant ground.
Taylor MacDonald sets tournament record, wins Federal Open Amateur
Though he only won the event by one shot, Taylor MacDonald set a tournament record at the Federal Open Amateur