Fathauer Feasts On Medalist

By Dave Shedloski

San Francisco – On perhaps the most physically demanding day of the U.S. Amateur, Derek Fathauer got time off for good form.

A senior at the University of Louisville, Fathauer, 22, stormed into the quarterfinals of the 107^th Amateur Championship Thursday afternoon at Olympic Club with a combination of opportunism and optimum play to eliminate Jason Kokrak of Warren, Ohio, 6 and 4. Kokrak, 22, a senior at Xavier University in Cincinnati and a frequent college opponent of Fathauer’s, was the medalist in the 36-hole qualifier.

Derek Fathauer offers up a wry smile after sinking his birdie putt on the third hole, which gave him a 2-up lead against Jason Kokrak in the third round. (John Mummert/USGA)

Earlier Thursday, Fathauer posted a 7-and-5 win over Chris Kirk, the 2007 recipient of the Hogan Award for college player of the year.

Not a bad day. And he needed just 27 holes to do it.

"I’m playing pretty solid, but this morning I was pretty much given a lot of holes," Fathauer said, grinning sheepishly. "This afternoon just about the same thing."

He did contribute some of his own skills to the routs, however. "I didn’t make a lot of mistakes – hit the fairways, hit the greens and made some putts," he said after prodding.

"I played poorly. I didn’t hit many good shots. I didn’t play nearly as well as I did in the morning," said Kokrak, who had shot 137 to secure the No. 1 seed. "Derek is an awesome player. I have played against him and his brother (Daryl) a lot over the last few years, so it was a match I was looking forward to. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my A-game, and Derek took advantage."

Fathauer, a semifinalist at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, seized the early lead with birdies on two of the first three holes, scoring on a tap-in at the first and a 12-footer at the long par-3 third hole set up by a 5-iron from 255 yards. Kokrak contributed to his own demise by throwing in a double-bogey at the fourth and bogey at No. 6 to move 4 down.

He had chances to cut into the deficit but left three straight birdie putts short at holes 9-11. In that mix Fathauer added yet another birdie, sinking an 18-footer to go five ahead.

"The greens were a lot faster this morning. I thought they might speed up with the sun and wind drying them out, but that didn’t seem to happen. Maybe I was a little bit tentative, too. Either way, I just didn’t take advantage when I did give myself something to work with," said Kokrak, who had come into the championship with some momentum after successfully defending his Ohio Amateur title last month.

Fathauer’s only real miscue came at the par-4 12^th when he bogeyed after flaring his drive well to the right, behind a group of trees. His momentum seemed to further erode when he hooked his 6-iron tee shot at the par-3 13^th into heavy greenside rough. Kokrak also missed the green, but was just off the putting surface facing a simpler chip shot.

The lie for Fathauer was poor but the lob was perfect. His chip caught the right edge of the hole and tumbled in for birdie to allow him to go dormie – 5 up with five to play. "I just kind of hit at it and tried to pop it up and get it on the green … and it went in," he said.

The match ended when Kokrak sailed his approach long at the uphill 14^th and then couldn’t get up and down. He conceded Fathauer’s short par putt for the final margin.

Fathauer said his experience at the APL, where he squandered a 2-up lead with four holes to play, has been valuable thus far. "I think it helped a lot," he said. "Just, you stay patient and hang in there. I had a lot of long days at the Public Links, so this today seemed pretty short.

"I’m trusting what I’m doing," he added.

And he’s moving on, about as well rested as anyone left in the field. But he’s not looking ahead to his next match against Michael Thompson of Tucson, Ariz.

"I learned that you can’t (look ahead)," he said. "I learned the hard way."

Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usamateur.org.