Macmanus, Bleumink top 10 at Players Am
BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Players Amateur | Round Four | 13 Jul 2009
Tarquin Macmanus and Luke Bleumink have finished the best of the Australians in a tie for 6th at 2-under-par following the final round of the Players Amateur in Bluffton, South Carolina.
Bud Cauley from Florida won the tournament with a 6-under-par finish, two strokes ahead of George Bryan IV. Cauley went into the final round with a one stroke lead over Curtis Thompson and Phillip Mollica.
Ranked 28th in the world and a winner of the 2008 Terra Cotta Invitational in Florida, Cauley was ecstatic with today’s win which also secures him an invite to next year’s Verizon Heritage Classic on the PGA Tour.
“This is definitely the best,” remarked Cauley, a sophomore at the University of Alabama.
“It’s the biggest amateur tournament that I’ve won and one of the best events that I’ve played.”
Belfair’s West Course again showed considerable bite during the final round of the Players Amateur with the day’s low round of 4-under-par 68 being shared by Americans, Adam Mitchell and Dodge Kemmer. Most struggled to break par as the traditional “Sunday” pins took its toll on the field.
Victorian Luke Bleumink started the final round just four behind third round leader Cauley and was able to finish with a creditable 1-under-par 71 with rounds of 69-72-74-71. Bleumink on the third day was in a three-way tie for lead at 3-under-par but continued to struggle with reading the greens throughout the tournament.
“I was just trying to execute my strategy as best that I could and hole some putts,” said Bleumink.
“I had no real expectations coming into this event and overall the results have been pleasing. I had a few chances to move up the leaderboard but I didn’t quite make the most of my opportunities.”
Bleumink moves on from the Players Amateur with his confidence high. The 2008 Victorian Amateur champion played into contention in a field that included 21 of the world’s top 100 players. Bleumink’s next event will be the Porter Cup which commences on 21 July at Niagara Falls Country Club.
Tarquin Macmanus teed off in his final round in a tie for 11th at 1-over-par and an impressive final round 3-under-par 69, which included seven birdies and four bogeys, moved the University of Arizona college player into a share of 6th, his best finish at a major US amateur event this season.
Macmanus, 18, has played five tournaments since starting a four-year golf scholarship at the University of Arizona in Texas and with two top 10 finishes and a top 15 effort in collegiate tournaments already to his credit, the Cairns native is a player to follow this season in the US.
Daniel Nisbet was the next Australian after Macmanus and Bleumink, finishing in a tie for 11th at 2-over-par with rounds of 72-73-72-73. It was Nisbet’s second top-15 finish in as many starts following a runner-up finish last week at the Sahalee Players Championship in Seattle.
Michael Smyth and Daniel Beckmann finished 30th and 33rd respectively with Smyth at 9-over-par after rounds of 75-76-72-74. Beckmann, runner-up to Scott Arnold this year at the Australian Amateur Championship, fired rounds of 77-71-72-78 to finish at 10-over-par.
Augusta State player, Mitch Krywulycz had a mixed day on the West Course at Belfair, shooting a final round 75 after earlier rounds of 74-75-77 to finish in a tie for 42th at 13-over-par, whilst Jordan Sherratt fired a closing 76 to finish in a tie for 53rd at 17-over-par. Ryan McCarthy struggled a little at the Players this week with rounds of 77-80-75 to miss the cut for the final round.
Cauley puts his name alongside previous winners that include British Open Champion Ben Curtis, Bill Haas, Camilo Villegas and Australia’s own Aron Price, all now PGA Tour players. It also secures the American a start at the NEC Master of the Amateurs to be played at Yarra Yarra next January.
