Notebook: Williams Bolster Case For Walker Cup Spot

By Alex Miceli

Oakmont, Pa. – Of the four semifinalists Saturday, only Casey Wittenberg has been named to this year’s Walker Cup team. Two slots are still available and invitations will be made at the end of the U.S. Amateur.

Both Lee Williams and David Oh would have to be on the USGA’s short list, but each player has a different viewpoint on their chances.

“I played well, but I think with the Walker Cup it's [that] they look at your past two years, they look at college and all that stuff,” said Oh. ”And I didn't really play as well as some other guys.”

Lee Williams, on the other hand, has had a good college career. He is return to Auburn in the fall as a junior.   Williams led the 2003 NCAA golf championships in the first three rounds before finishing runner-up to Alenjandro Canizaries of Arizona State University.

“I feel like I got a good shot,” said Williams. “But I felt like I had a good shot earlier.   I'm just not going to get my hopes up and we'll see where it goes. I've done all I could do up to now.”

History

Oakmont Country Club has hosted the U.S. Amateur twice before, in 1969 when Steve Melnyk won in an all-stroke play event and also in 1938 when Willie Turnesa defeated B. Patrick Abbott, 8 and 7.  

In the final match, Turnesa was reported to be in bunkers on 13 of 29 holes.

In 1938 the Walker Cup took place before the Amateur. The Walker Cup was held in June while the Amateur played in September.   Of the then eight Walker Cup players, only one, Johnny Goodman, made it into the quarterfinals of the Amateur that year. Goodman was defeated by Richard Chapman, 2 and 1. Due to World War II, it was the last Walker Cup until 1947.

Tough Time

The difficulty of the course has gotten to the players.   In the two semifinal matches, the competitors were well over par. Williams was 9-over par through 14 holes, with no birdies. A Wittenberg was 4 over with a lone bogey on the par-4 11th.

In the Flanagan and Oh match, Flanagan shot 75 and Oh carded 79, but Oh made two birdies to Flanagan’s one.

“It's going to be really, really hard for somebody to go out on this golf course tomorrow and run the table with birdies,” said Wittenberg.   “The golf course is playing so firm and so fast right now,

it's just hard to keep the ball around the hole. But the golf course is

so difficult, I think in the 36-hole match [Sunday], there's obviously going to be stretches where every person plays a little bit better.”

Immediately after beating Williams, the USGA’s Director of Rules and Competitions Tom Meeks congratulated Wittenberg on a job well done. Wittenberg thanked him before jokingly asking Meeks about a tough hole location on the sixth hole.

Staying Ahead

Wittenberg continued a trend of never trailing when getting the lead. Through the first four matches Wittenberg trailed a total of 18 holes, but when he got the lead he never gave it up.

The same can’t be said for Flanagan. He has trailed in all four of his matches, or a total of four holes.

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