Weiss rides a rollercoaster to South Carolina Mid-Am title

Jon Weiss had quite a ride to the South Carolina Mid-Amateur championship at the at Dataw Island Club in St. Helena Island.

After starting the day two shots off the lead, the Florence native made an eagle and a hole-in-one in his first five holes and overcame a disastrous finish when he relinquished three shots on the final two holes to slip into a playoff.

Weiss started the day two strokes back of second-round leader Kyle Bearden, who was at 7-under par 137 heading into the final round. However, following rounds of 68 and 67, Bearden fell out of contention after carding a 5-over 77 on Sunday, which left the door open for a host of pursuers.

Weiss got off to a dream start by holing out his second shot for an eagle on the par-4 first hole to draw within one of Bearden, who opened with a birdie.

Four holes later, Weiss aced the fifth to take the outright lead. The former James Madison standout seemingly had things well in hand after making a birdie on 13, but after a double bogey on 17 and a bogey on 18, Weiss found himself in a playoff with Chandler Mulkey, who shot a final round 71 to also finish at 6-under 210.

Weiss ended things quickly with birdie on the first playoff hole to seal the title.

“I had ten feet for eagle on No. 1 and made it,” said Weiss. “I played a couple of holes and had the best hole-in-one of my life on No. 5 which was amazing. It was a little bit of a rollercoaster coming in and I was lucky enough to make my putt on 18 to get in the playoff. It feels so good to win the Mid-Am. This is something I’ve dreamt of doing for a long time and it’s an incredible feeling.”