Top 10 storylines: Williams' Western run

By Ron Balicki, Golfweek

There were plenty of good stories that came out of amateur golf this past season, exciting, happy endings as well as disappointing, heart- breaking endings.

From Steven Fox winning the U.S. Amateur, to Nathan Smith capturing a record fourth U.S. Mid- Amateur to a 14-year-old from China qualifying for next year’s Masters -- and a whole lot more along the way.

I’ve been covering amateur golf at just about every level for some 30 years and it seems each year provides its own share of interesting stories, whether in victory or defeat.

Compiling a list of the best of them for 2012 was difficult, but here is a list of my top 10:

Golfweek's Top 10 Stories of 2012 No. 10: Guan wins Asian Am | Read No. 9: Peter Williamson's Summer | Read No. 8 Rhys Pugh's Comeback | Read No. 7: Chris Williams' Western Am run | Read No. 6: Daan Huizing wins Lytham Trophy | Read No. 5: USA dominates World Am Team | Read No. 4: T.J. Vogel wins U.S. Public Links | Read No. 3: Alan Dunbar wins British Amateur | Read No. 2: Nathan Smith wins 4th U.S. Mid-Am | Read No. 1: Steven Fox wins thrilling U.S. Am | Read

No. 7: For the second consecutive year, Chris Williams, a senior at Washington, set a tournament record in the 72-hole stroke-play qualifying segment of the Western Amateur, this time topping his old mark with a 17-under 271 score. Unlike the previous year when he lost his opening match, Williams went on to win all four of his matches to claim the title in the 110th Western Am at Exmoor County Club just outside Chicago.

He clinched the title with a 1-up victory over recent Texas A&M grad Jordan Russell in the 18-hole championship match.

Williams became the first player to win both medalist and championship honors since Danny Lee in 2008. Prior to that, Bubba Dickerson (he shared medalist honors with Matthew Abbott) accomplished the feat in 2001.