Bleumink second at delayed Players Am
BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Players Amateur | Round One | 11 Jul 2009
After a delay of a more than four hours, the first round of the Players Amateur finally got underway on the West Course at Belfair Golf Club layout in Bluffton, South Carolina. Only six of 40 pairings made it onto the course before play was then halted because of heavy rain and lightning.
Victorian Luke Bleumink was in one of the groups that managed to get their opening round completed with the 2008 Victorian Amateur Champion finishing the day in a tie for 2nd after an opening 69, a stroke behind current leader, Phillip Mollica.
Four other Australians managed to get their opening round completed with Michael Smyth the next best placed Australian in a tie for 20th after an opening 75, Tarquin Macmanus is in a tie of 24 with a 76, whilst Ryan McCarthy opened with a 77 and Jordan Sherratt one behind with a 78.
Daniel Beckmann, Daniel Nisbet, and Mitch Krywulycz had not completed their rounds before play was suspended.
Mark Anderson won the championship last year with a record 20-under-par finish, but that was on a different course to that being played this week, with the West Course at Belfair Golf Club closed for renovations twice since 2005.
The Players Amateur is considered one of the most prized amateur majors in America. Previous winners include British Open Champion, Ben Curtis, Bill Haas and Camilo Villegas, all now PGA Tour players. This year’s event has attracted 21 of the world’s top 100 players. American Adam Mitchell is the highest ranked player at 14, followed by Brian Harman at 15, whilst Daniel Nisbet is Australia’s highest ranked player at 20.
Mitchell finished a creditable 4th during the Master of the Amateurs earlier in the year at Yarra Yarra in Melbourne and along with Harman are considered strong favourites to take out this week’s title. They are one of the 16 groups that are yet to finish due to the weather delay and will complete their opening round tomorrow. All second round matches are to be delayed until the completion of the opening round
