Golf | Stanley delivers at Southern Am

Stanley delivers at Southern Am

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By STEVE HARMON
Deputy Editor

ORLANDO, Fla. – Retracing his steps back up the first fairway at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, Kyle Stanley struggled for words to describe his second Southern Amateur Championship in three years.

He shook his head while collecting his thoughts and responded simply: “It feels really good to win again.’’

Stanley, 20, of Gig Harbor, Wash., sank a 45-foot birdie putt on the first hole of sudden death July 19, outlasting Mike Van Sickle and Judson Eustaquio. They had tied at 14-under 274 after 72 holes.

Stanley, who moved up to No. 3 in the Golfweek/Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking, improbably had not won a tournament in nearly two years. Since claiming the Aloha Classic in the fall of his freshman year at Clemson, he had gone winless. There were plenty of top finishes, notably a runner-up in the ’07 NCAAs, plus six top 10s as a sophomore.

With the Southern title, Stanley gains entry to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a PGA Tour event held across town at Bay Hill. “It’ll be a real thrill,’’ Stanley said.

He has tested his game against the touring pros this summer, missing the cut by a shot in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

“I took a lot of good out of it, that I can play – and win – out there.’’

Stanley shot a final-round 6-under 66 on the 7,215-yard Lake Nona course, then waited for the rest of the field to post scores. He relaxed in the clubhouse and watched some of the British Open, keeping an eye on the electronic scoreboards for the Southern.

Van Sickle, of Wexford, Pa., and a rising senior at Marquette, ran in a 20-footer for birdie at 18 to pull even with Stanley as the leaders in the clubhouse.

Meanwhile, Eustaquio, of Lake Worth, Fla., and a redshirt sophomore at Florida Southern, was watching his lead vanish.

Stray tee shots at 14 and 15 led to bogeys before he steadied things with three closing pars.

“I was trying to win the tournament the last nine holes,’’ said Eustaquio, who goes by “Jude.’’ Earlier this summer, he won the Florida Amateur before shooting a tournament-record 260 total in winning the Eastern Amateur.

Hitting first in the playoff, Stanley fanned a 3-wood right on the 418-yard, par-4 No. 1. Upon taking a drop off the cart path and onto newly sodded turf, Stanley hit a 7-iron from 180 yards onto the left side of the green, about 45 feet from the center-right pin. With Van Sickle about 20 feet from the hole and Eustaquio having pitched to within tap-in range, Stanley stepped up and made the 45-footer. When Van Sickle’s putt slid just right of the hole, Stanley had another Southern Am trophy to go with his 2006 title.

Van Sickle, whose rain-delayed third round was suspended by darkness, resumed his round on the 16th tee. “I thought I found a swing thought on the range,’’ he recalled. His first swing of the day, a blocked-right drive that “was so far out of bounds in midair,’’ led to a triple-bogey 7. He regained his composure with a 10-footer for birdie on 17 en route to a 69. Van Sickle was the only player to post four rounds in the 60s.

George Bryan IV, a South Carolina junior from Chapin, S.C., tied the competitive course record with a 9-under 63 in the final round despite bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 before he birdied the 18th. He finished T-4 at 276 with Tim Stewart (69) of Australia and Matt Savage (70) of Louisville, Ky.

Third-round leader Blake Trimble, who had emerged on the strength of a 64, faded with a final-round 74 to share seventh place at 278 with Jay Moseley (70) of Bainbridge, Ga., Matt Jager (72) of Australia and Mark Harrell (71) of Hazelhurst, Ga.

• • •

Steve Harmon is Golfweek’s deputy editor. To reach him e-mail sharmon@golfweek.com.

Final scores with relation to par from the Southern Amateur, played July 16-19 at the par-72, 7,165-yard Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Fla. (Note: x-won playoff):

1. x-Kyle Stanley	70-71-67-66--274		-14
2. Mike Van Sickle	69-69-69-67--274		-14
2. Judson Eustaquio	66-70-71-67--274		-14
4. George Bryan	70-70-73-63--276		-12
4. Tim Stewart	68-69-70-69--276		-12
4. Matt Savage	70-66-70-70--276		-12
7. Jay Moseley	71-69-68-70--278		-10
7. Blake Trimble	71-69-64-74--278		-10
7. Matt Jager	69-67-70-72--278		-10
7. Mark Harrell	70-65-72-71--278		-10
11. Hunter Hamrick	70-68-71-70--279		-9
11. Sam Saunders	69-68-71-71--279		-9
11. Andres Echavarria	71-65-72-71--279		-9
14. Rory Hie	69-68-71-73--281		-7
15. Kyle Ellis	70-69-71-72--282		-6
15. Tyson Alexander	71-65-71-75--282		-6
17. Andrew Georgiou	72-69-65-77--283		-5
17. Scott Arnold	71-69-70-73--283		-5
17. Taylor Hall	70-66-73-74--283		-5
17. Justin Roach	68-67-74-74--283		-5
21. Daniel Meggs	70-72-71-71--284		-4
21. Matthew Swan	70-70-68-76--284		-4
21. Tim Schaetzel	65-72-72-75--284		-4
24. Josh Gallman	69-74-69-73--285		-3
24. Matthew Giles	72-71-72-70--285		-3
24. Carl Santos-Ocampo	70-70-75-70--285		-3
27. Russell Henley	71-71-75-69--286		-2
27. Jhonattan Vegas	72-69-72-73--286		-2
27. Tim McKenney	65-74-73-74--286		-2
27. Greg Forest	75-69-70-72--286		-2
31. Mu Hu	70-73-71-73--287		-1
31. Nico Geyger	69-72-74-72--287		-1
31. Sihwan Kim	71-72-70-74--287		-1
31. Danny Lee	70-74-74-69--287		-1
35. Rob Butler	74-70-73-71--288		E
35. Seung-su Han	73-71-75-69--288		E
35. Jordan Payne	73-72-70-73--288		E
38. Trey Denton	75-66-75-73--289	+	1
38. Travis Woolf	70-73-71-75--289	+	1
38. Roberto Diaz	73-72-71-73--289	+	1
41. Robert Lindstrom	71-73-79-67--290	+	2
41. Samuel Chavez	71-69-76-74--290	+	2
41. Cheng-Tsung Pan	75-70-72-73--290	+	2
44. Michael Foster	72-71-69-79--291	+	3
44. Caleb Marsh	70-70-76-75--291	+	3
44. Mark Johnson	69-70-73-79--291	+	3
44. Robbie Wight	72-72-72-75--291	+	3
44. Bank Vongvanij	71-74-70-76--291	+	3
49. Harrison Cuevas	71-71-72-78--292	+	4
49. Marc France	70-72-76-74--292	+	4
49. Jeff Golden	73-71-73-75--292	+	4
52. Seath Lauer	75-69-75-74--293	+	5
52. Jonathan Mathias	74-70-71-78--293	+	5
52. Byron White	72-73-75-73--293	+	5
55. Chandler Cocco	71-72-77-74--294	+	6
55. Matt Hughes	74-66-80-74--294	+	6
55. Hunter Townsend	75-69-70-80--294	+	6
55. Rhys Enoch	71-73-79-71--294	+	6
55. Hudson Swafford	65-71-77-81--294	+	6
55. Gregory Huxman	71-74-73-76--294	+	6
61. Ray Beaufils	71-72-75-77--295	+	7
61. Jason Flowers	72-73-82-68--295	+	7
63. Logan Blondell	72-72-76-76--296	+	8
63. Andrew Noto	69-76-72-79--296	+	8
65. Nick Mullhaupt	71-73-79-76--299	+	11
• • •
Missed the cut
66. Jarrod Barsamain	74-72--146	+	2
66. Michael Buttacavoli	76-70--146	+	2
66. Clay Homan	76-70--146	+	2
66. Michael Jensen	73-73--146	+	2
66. Jin Jeong	73-73--146	+	2
66. Derek Rende	71-75--146	+	2
66. J. Schoolmeesters	74-72--146	+	2
66. Will Strickler	74-72--146	+	2
66. Peter Uihlein	77-69--146	+	2
66. Harrison Cuevas	73-73--146	+	2
66. Dylan Raines	74-72--146	+	2
66. Ryan LeFevre	73-73--146	+	2
66. Robert Burrow	73-73--146	+	2
79. Ken Looper III	71-76--147	+	3
79. Michael Barbosa	75-72--147	+	3
79. Wesley Graham	75-72--147	+	3
79. Luke Guthrie	78-69--147	+	3
79. Phillip Mollica	75-72--147	+	3
79. Aaron Stewart	77-70--147	+	3
79. Brian Whittle	77-70--147	+	3
79. Sean Goshert	74-73--147	+	3
87. Cedric Scotto	73-75--148	+	4
87. Tom Glissmeyer	71-77--148	+	4
87. Mark Ogren	70-78--148	+	4
87. Will Swift	73-75--148	+	4
87. Austin Hannah	79-69--148	+	4
87. Justin Walker	73-75--148	+	4
87. Paul Haley	75-73--148	+	4
87. Wes Carter	75-73--148	+	4
87. Cole Willis	75-73--148	+	4
87. Michael Mulieri	77-71--148	+	4
87. Robert Robertson	73-75--148	+	4
87. Bryan Haase	72-76--148	+	4
87. Freddie Janneck	72-76--148	+	4
87. Nicholas Smith	77-71--148	+	4
101. Rocky Cleland	75-74--149	+	5
101. Dan Crockett	76-73--149	+	5
101. Shaun O'Meara	74-75--149	+	5
101. Grant Scott	72-77--149	+	5
101. John Fox	72-77--149	+	5
101. Bradley Ruch	71-78--149	+	5
101. Scott Kelly	76-73--149	+	5
101. Paul Apyan	74-75--149	+	5
101. Spence Fulford	77-72--149	+	5
101. Brent Paul	77-72--149	+	5
101. Bill Jones	75-74--149	+	5
101. Ferdinand Aunzo	73-76--149	+	5
113. John Stembridge	74-76--150	+	6
113. Julian Etulain	72-78--150	+	6
113. Drew Kittleson	77-73--150	+	6
113. Mike McRae	79-71--150	+	6
113. Adam Weinstein	74-76--150	+	6
113. David Tobon	75-75--150	+	6
119. Brad Simons	73-78--151	+	7
119. David Holmes	72-79--151	+	7
119. Glenn Northcutt	77-74--151	+	7
119. Thomas Lathrop	76-75--151	+	7
119. Kenny Wilson	77-74--151	+	7
119. Kelly Manders	81-70--151	+	7
119. Robert Plucienski	74-77--151	+	7
126. Michael Saari	77-75--152	+	8
126. Ed McDugle	79-73--152	+	8
126. Juan Carlos Cortes	73-79--152	+	8
126. Scott Pralle	76-76--152	+	8
130. Michael Hicks	77-76--153	+	9
130. John Robinson	79-74--153	+	9
130. Gator Todd	74-79--153	+	9
130. Jeff Warren	77-76--153	+	9
130. Warren Thomas	74-79--153	+	9
130. Cody Klein	77-76--153	+	9
130. Henry Zaytoun III	78-75--153	+	9
137. Mitch Krywulycz	73-81--154	+	10
137. Jason Scrivener	79-75--154	+	10
137. Justin Jones	77-77--154	+	10
137. Charlie Harrison	78-76--154	+	10
137. Bryan Harris	76-78--154	+	10
142. James Sacheck	80-75--155	+	11
143. Carter Newman	78-78--156	+	12
143. Bud Cauley	74-82--156	+	12
143. Jack Freeman	81-75--156	+	12
143. Clark Taylor	74-82--156	+	12
147. Joey Davis	79-78--157	+	13
147. Travis Wadkins	76-81--157	+	13
147. Kyle Pritchard	82-75--157	+	13
147. Sam Beach	75-82--157	+	13
151. Chadd Reynolds	77-81--158	+	14
151. Eddie Craven	75-83--158	+	14
151. Will Oldham	72-86--158	+	14
151. Tyler Hock	72-86--158	+	14
155. Jordan Wynn	78-81--159	+	15
155. Colin List	78-81--159	+	15
157. Olin Browne	79-81--160	+	16
157. Michael Levy	87-73--160	+	16
159. Matthew Langan	82-79--161	+	17
160. Parker Beck	80-89--169	+	25
161. Broc Raymond	90-87--177	+	33
DQ. Darren Blair	72-73-77-DQ
WD. J.T. Griffin	70-75-WD
WD. Patrick Reed	74-WD
WD. Mike Stern	78-WD
WD. Dylan Waters	78-WD
WD. Zach Lee	WD
WD. Greg Norman	WD

Posted: 7/19/2008

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