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.
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
- LIKE10
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK1
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
- Steve Stricker WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Drew Brees WITB (Legendary New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Thriston Lawrence 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
- Patrick Cantlay spotted testing a Scotty Cameron blade putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- LIKE7
- LEGIT3
- WOW1
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK2
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.
- LIKE10
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL2
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB0
- SHANK0
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Report: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Neal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
-
19th Hole1 week ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
Equipment3 weeks ago
Jason Day on his recent switch into Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 Mk II irons
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.