Page 37 - 2019 Western Amateur Championship Program

WGA_Program_2019_V3__ 6/13/2019 2:30 PM Page 35
2018 WESTERN AMATEUR RECAP
Hammer survives Riley’s late charge to claim 2018 Western Amateur title
The other four were Scott Verplank,

Bobby Jones, Chick Evans and H.
Chandler Egan.
Hammer’s 76 holes in four rounds of
match play tied the record for most
holes played, set by Justin Leonard
(1992) and David Chung (2010). He
becomes the second consecutive player
to earn medalist honors and win the
overall title. Sam Stevens, of Wichita,
Kansas, tied Hammer for 2018 medalist
honors before losing in the first round
of Sweet Sixteen match play.
Five other Texas Longhorns have won
the Western Amateur, including major
champions Ben Crenshaw and Leonard.
Beau Hossler was the most recent,
winning the title in 2014 at Beverly
Country Club in Chicago, Illinois.
Doug Ghim, another Longhorn, was
the medalist that year.

The Longhorns have enjoyed a nice run
of impact players in recent years, from
Cole Hammer with his trophies. Jordan Spieth to Brandon Stone to Beau
Defending champion Cole Hammer Hammer jumped out to a 4-up lead at Hossler to Doug Ghim. It appears it’s
enjoyed a wire-to-wire winning week the turn, but he saw his lead dwindle now Hammer time.

at the 2018 Western Amateur. over the back nine. Riley won the
11th with the par, the 12th with a
Hammer, who was the co-medalist
after shooting a tournament-record 23 birdie and the 16th with a birdie to
cut the deficit to one hole. Hammer
under in stroke-play qualifying, led
held on to win by the same margin as
throughout his 2018 championship his previous matches — 1 up.
match against Davis Riley to capture
one of the most prestigious titles in Hammer, now an incoming sophomore
amateur golf. at Texas, broke onto the scene in 2015,
when he qualified for the U.S. Open as
“Biggest day in my golf career, no
a 15-year-old. He’s blossomed into a
question,” Hammer said afterward.
standout amateur.
“It was a really special week from
start to finish.” In addition to his Western Amateur
victory, Hammer’s list of achievements
Hammer won by a 1-up margin in each
in 2018 included winning the Azalea
of his first three Western Amateur
matches at Sunset Ridge Country Club Invitational in March, teaming with
Garrett Barber to win the U.S. Amateur
in Northfield, Illinois, and was again
Four-Ball title in May and reaching the
taken the distance in the championship
U.S. Amateur semifinals in August.
match by Riley, a senior All-American
at Alabama. He also was co-medalist at both the
Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur,
one of only five golfers to ever do so.
Davis Riley, the runner up at the 2018 Western Amateur

2019 Western Amateur Championship Western Amateur Championship History 35