U.S. Amateur Looking Like A U.N. Convention

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Ardmore, Pa. – As the U.S. Amateur continues, the quarterfinals feature more international flavor than a famous pancake chain.

Of the eight players left, five were born outside of the United States. Even more surprising is the fact that three are Canadians. Did someone forget to tell them this isn’t a curling exhibition? OK, no more Canadian jokes.

	Edoardo Molinari of Italy played near-flawless golf against Matthew Swan in Thursday's afternoon 3-and-2 victory. He struck nine of 13 fairways and missed just one green. (John Mummert/USGA)

That aside, the U.S. Amateur has become a melting pot for the world’s best talent. One might expect to see the golf college factories well represented when the championship gets this long in the tooth. That’s not the case now unless Kent State, Lamar University, Northwestern and Penn State have suddenly become NCAA Division I powerhouses. And it’s not as though the five foreign-born players still alive are what you’d call neophytes in the sport. They’ve all got talent.

Perhaps 23-year-old Canadian Mark Leon, the Penn State senior who will face fellow compatriot and UNLV fifth-year senior J.C. Deacon Friday, explained it best when asked what he made of seeing all the non-Americans still alive. He was most surprised that most of the brethren weren’t Walker Cuppers.

"I think the bottom line is, the U.S. Amateur, it's above and beyond any of the four majors and professional golf, in amateur golf," he said. "Like in professional golf, what I mean is you could argue that the Masters is the best or the U.S. Open is the best or the British Open is the best. This is like a World Amateur.

"I mean, this is by far the biggest amateur event, just by virtue of the strength of field. You have these European guys; they want to play in this tournament. The Canadian guys want to play in this tournament. The fact that if you win you get invites to three of the professional majors next year. How is that not the greatest amateur tournament going? How can you make the finals and lose? That's the best consolation prize in the universe; you get to play in the Masters."

Reading between the lines, Leon is right on target. The U.S. Amateur is the pinnacle event of any young male golfer, although some in Europe could argue that it’s the British Amateur. It may not be considered a major like it was dating back to the days of Bob Jones and Jack Nicklaus, but among the amateur ranks, it still has plenty of cache.

Why else would 24-year-old Edoardo Molinari make his first competitive golf trip to the U.S. after immersing himself in amateur events all over Europe? The brother of European Tour player Francesco Molinari said he came because it presented some of the world’s best talent. He prepared for the event by first qualifying for the British Open and then going out and finishing in a 60th-place tie with Mark Calcavecchia, Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman.

Living in the northern part of Italy (Torino), he said he started playing when he was 8. Finding a course wasn’t an issue, with five in the nearby region where he lived. In his third-round match he got by University of Alabama incoming freshman Matthew Swan, 3 and 2, using a deft touch as he traversed Merion. In fact, he missed just one green in regulation and always gave himself a chance, traits he picked up playing the European game.

Merion’s layout, however, was unlike he’s ever encountered before.

"Apart from links-style courses, when the wind blows 60 miles an hour, this is the toughest," he said. "Course-wise, it is the toughest ever."

How about South African Dawie van der Walt, a hulking 22-year-old playing at Lamar University in Texas? South Africa, which has churned out the likes of Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Gary Player, isn’t exactly a hotbed of golf. He grew up competing in unfamiliar sports to most Americans like cricket and rugby. Golf caught his fancy during high school. He decided then he wanted to make to it the U.S. to play.

The U.S. Amateur? Most of his family and friends never had heard of it. He didn’t visit the U.S. until going to school.

"It was very lonely playing golf growing up in high school, because there’s not good guys you can compete against," said van der Walt, who also has played in the British Amateur, through a thick dialect.

"You tell them you’re playing in the U.S. Amateur, they are like, ‘How do you do?’ Like, we don’t have [The] Golf Channel. If you don’t play rugby in South Africa, people don’t know about you. You play here, top eight, and you get TV coverage. In South Africa, I’ve won the stroke play, which is almost more important in the South African Amateur … I don’t think I even got on TV."

From Deacon’s perspective, after dropping in a pressure-packed 10 footer on the 18th hole to defeat 52-year-old George Zahringer, the quality of golf in Canada is like a hidden gem: the country is laden with talent but not many people know about it. Gary Cowan is the last Canadian to win the U.S. Amateur, but that came in 1971. Richard Scott, the 2005 Canadian Amateur champion, did reach the U.S. Junior Amateur final in 2001.

Programs, like the newly-created National Canadian Team, which 20-year-old Ryan Yip is on, can only create more awareness in a country best known for producing ice hockey stars. Going far in the U.S. Amateur can, perhaps, change the mindset that young stars can hit a white ball as well as slapping a frozen rubber puck.

"I think with a lot of the programs that are in place back in Canada, and just an interest in junior golf, it's only going to get better," said Leon.

Ken Klavon is the USGA’s web editor. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.