Tour News
U.S. Amateur Semifinals Feature Four Non-U.S. Players
For the first time in U.S. Amateur history, the 2013 tournament semifinals feature four players with foreign nationalities.
Oliver Goss and Brady Watt, two Australian golfers, will meet in one semifinal. In the other, Corey Conners of Canada will battle Matt Fitzpatrick of England. On the line are berths into two of golf’s most important championships, the Masters and U.S. Open.
It is ironic that this year’s championship was awarded to The Country Club in Brookline (near Boston), Mass., to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the golfing triumph that shocked the world of 1913. Francis Ouimet, caddie and local amateur, stunned Ted Ray and Harry Vardon in a playoff to win the U.S. Open that year. History reversed itself in 2013, as four players from outside the U.S. traversed the minefield of match play to reach the penultimate matches.
Brady Watt should be no surprise to any amateur golf aficionado. The antipodean is currently ranked No. 1 in the Scratch Players world list and No. 9 in the Royal and Ancient valuation. Watt defeated three Americans (Sean Walsh, Seth Reeves and U.S. Junior champion Scottie Scheffler) and one Canadian (Charlie Hughes) to reach the semifinal. Watt was co-medalist of on-site qualifying and saw the 18th hole for the first time in match play in his quarterfinal contest with Scheffler.
Countryman Oliver Goss is ranked 15th on the Scratch Players list and 13th on the R&A ranking. He tied for third in the stroke-play portion of the Amateur and won both the Western Australia Amateur and Open championships in 2013. Unlike Watt, Goss competes for an American university (University of Tennessee) in the NCAA.
Representing Europe in the semifinal bracket is Matt Fitzpatrick. The Englishman is ranked 31st in the SP and second in the R&A lists (don’t ask us to explain the discrepancy!). Fitzpatrick tied with Goss for third in qualifying, made the cut last month in the British Open at Muirfield (where he finished as low amateur) and likely clinched a spot on the Great Britain & Ireland side for this year’s Walker Cup at National Golf Links of America in September.
Corey Conners, of Ontario, Canada, is the lone North American representative in the tournament. He will match up with Fitzpatrick for a spot in Sunday’s 36-hole final. Conners holds a ranking of 19th in the SP hierarchy and 39 on the R&A array. Conners tied for second at the 2013 Canadian amateur, tied for third at the 2013 Monroe Invitational and competed for Kent State University in the NCAAs for the third consecutive year.
The Country Club has proven itself a wonderful host to the premier amateur event. In 2013, the event was made all the more prestigious by the presence of three open spots on the U.S. side for the Walker Cup matches. Two spots will go to mid amateurs (none of whom made match play), leaving a trio of places to anyone able to prove himself in match play. American favorites dropped in fistfuls during the first two rounds. Exiting match play in the opening round were Sean Dale, Michael Weaver, Jim Liu, Bo Andrews and Jordan Niebrugge, the 2013 Public Links and Western champion. Round Two brought the departure of Bobby Wyatt, Brandon Hagy, Chase Koepka, Zac Blair and Seth Reeves. The list thinned further after the third round, when Patrick Rodgers, Chelso Barrett and Gavin Hall cleaned out their lockers.
The trio of U.S. players that reached the quarterfinals ran into a pair of buzz saws in Fitzpatrick (a 4 & 3 winner over Adam Ball of Richmond, Va.) and Goss (a 5 & 3 victor over Brandon Matthews of Dupont, Pa.) U.S. Junior champion Scheffler (of Dallas) held his own against the tournament’s top seed (Watt), taking a two-up lead as late as the No. 12 before succumbing. To his credit, Watt played the closing sextet of holes in even-par to steal the match from the young Texan.
In the Valhalla of golfing gods, Francis Ouimet occupies a special place. The lifelong amateur, twice winner of this national championship (1914 and 1931), doubtless looks down on the events of this week and smiles at the thought of four upstart players from this vast globe, at odds in the semifinals of a national championship, on a course across the street from his boyhood home.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.
As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.
Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.
General Albums
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #2
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Alex Fitzpatrick – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Austin Cook – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Alejandro Tosti – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- MJ Daffue – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Nate Lashley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- James Nicholas – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Kevin Streelman – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rasmus Hojgaard – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Tom Whitney – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- SangMoon Bae – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Daniel Berger – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rory McIlroy – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Russ Cochrane – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Aldrich Potgieter – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
Pullout Albums
- MJ Daffue’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Cameron putters – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Swag covers ( a few custom for Nick Hardy) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Custom Bettinardi covers for Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Doug Ghim’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Ronald Montesano
Aug 17, 2013 at 7:22 am
That was my doing. I couldn’t come up with a suitable adjective (didn’t want to say “international”). Thanks for the catch, Stephen and thanks for reading.
Stephen Boyd
Aug 16, 2013 at 11:59 pm
Good article, to bad about the Headline that they attached. Canada is not overseas.