Notebook: Getting A Jump Early

By Alex Miceli

Oakmont, Pa. -- Most players would agree that getting an early lead is important in match play at Oakmont, but in Friday’s quarterfinals, three of the four winners trailed early in their matches.  

Bill Haas tried to get a leg up on David Oh Friday, but it wasn't meant to be. (John Mummert/USGA)

Only Casey Wittenberg took the lead early over George Zahringer, winning the first two-out-of-three holes.

“It’s really a key thing to get off to a good start on this golf course if you want to win,” said Wittenberg of the optimum playing strategy at Oakmont. “You can get off to a bad start and you get down and you have time to get back, but it’s really a hard grind.”

Wittenberg knows all too well how hard it is to come back from behind. Wittenberg was 4 down to USA Walker Cup teammate Adam Rubinson early in the third round before winning his match in 20 holes.

Long Time, Mate

If Australian Nick Flanagan can triumph in the 103rd U.S. Amateur, he would be the seventh foreign-born player in the history of the event to win.   He would also be just the second Australian; it would end a 32-year streak of dominance by American golfers.

The last time a foreign-born player won the U.S. Amateur came in 1971 when Gary Cowan of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, won his second U.S. Amateur. He had won his first in 1966.

The first foreign-born winner was H.G. Whigham of Scotland in 1896 and 1897. Findlay S. Douglas of St. Andrews, Scotland, won in 1898, and the only Australian to take the crown was Walter J. Travis in 1900, 1901 and 1903. Harold Hilton of Liverpool of England won in 1911 and C. Ross Somerville of London, Ontario, Canada, won in 1932.

Memorable Summer

At 18, Wittenberg has accomplished a lot in his 2003 summer. He has won the Porter Cup and Southern Amateur, and been runner-up in both the Azalea Amateur and the Monroe Invitational. And he was one of the eight players named to the U.S. Walker Cup Team that will take on Great Britain & Ireland in two weeks in Ganton, England.

"It’s been a fun last stretch of the summer,” said Wittenberg of his accomplishments. “I’m getting excited about going to school and being at Oklahoma State.”

Throughout his matches, Wittenberg has played steady and taken advantage of his opponent’s mistakes.

Wittenberg made only two birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey. His opponent, George Zahringer, made one more birdie, but he also had five bogeys and one double bogey to lose 1 up.

One of the benefits that Wittenberg has on the course may be his dad, who is on his bag for him this week.

"He’s an extremely level-headed person out there on the golf course, which is why he’s good on my bag,” said Wittenberg. “We don’t really necessarily talk about winning or losing; it’s just playing the golf course and just taking it one shot at a time.”

First Time For Everything

Three of the four semifinalists -- Flanagan, Williams and Wittenberg -- are playing in their first U.S. Amateurs.   Only Matt Kuchar in 1997 and Jeff Quinney in 2000 won the Amateur in their first attempt.

The other semifinalist, David Oh, played in last year’s Amateur at Oakland Hills and didn’t make it into match play.

Alex Miceli is a free-lance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usamateur.org.