Inform Aussie field eyes off Porter Cup

BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Porter Cup | Preview | 22 Jul 2009

Ten Australians will contest this year’s Porter Cup starting Wednesday at Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York. It is a select field of 90 golfers from nine countries and it is the first occasion a strong Australian contingent has appeared in force this season in the US.

With the likes of Daniel Beckmann, a runner-up to Scott Arnold this March at the Australian Amateur, Matt Jager, our highest ranked world amateur (12th) and current New Zealand Amateur Champion, Daniel Nisbet, runner-up at the Sahalee Players Amateur, our chances are strong of an Australian victory.

That’s not discounting the likes of Matt Giles, who has played an exceptional US college season and was named in the All-American first team following the 2009 NCAA Championships last month. Giles is a gifted player already with a runner-up finish at the 2008 Sahalee Players Amateur and is due for a win.

University of Arizona based Aussie Tarquin MacManus also looks like a solid prospect following his recent top form.

MacManus secured his second top-10 finish last week at a major US amateur tournament in as many starts, after the Queenslander carded a 12-under-par to finish in a tie for 3rd at the Southern Amateur Championship. A week earlier, MacManus recorded a tie for 6th at The Players Amateur. His consistency in the top US amateur events has been impressive.

“It’s a really quality field here this week,” says MacManus. “I’m just looking forward to getting out there and getting the tournament underway. I’m playing well and hope to keep striking the ball like I have been the last couple of tournaments.”

A few changes to his putting stroke following the Southern Amateur has the world number 89 ready to seriously challenge the field at Niagara Falls Country Club in what is effectively the 18-year-old’s first season playing the US amateur circuit.

“If I can get some putts to drop here and there, I think it will be a good week for me,” says MacManus.

“My game is there and this tournament will be a great test.”

Another Australian to follow is the big hitting Victorian, Luke Bleumink.

Bleumink played into contention at the Players Amateur sharing the lead in the tournament after the second round, only to fall back to a tie for 6th on the final day. The 2008 Victorian Amateur Champion is due for a major international victory and heads into this tournament in top form and if he is amongst the leading pack on Saturday, Bleumink should serious challenge for the title.

Matt Jager enters the Porter Cup as our highest ranked world amateur at 12th and is fresh from a break back in Melbourne.

Solid efforts at the British Amateur Championship in June where Jager scorched the Formby Golf Club in the opening stroke play round with a course record 66, only to see the 2009 New Zealand Amateur Champion eventually going down in his third round match against England’s John Carroll on the 20th hole, cumulated in a frustrating British Amateur Championship for the Western Australian.

Jager is rested after a break back in Melbourne where he caught up with his coach and the Porter Cup is his first US tournament for the season before he attempts to qualify for the US Amateur Championship later in August.

Should Jager be in the hunt during Saturday’s final round, his chances to improve upon his runner-up finish at the 2008 Players is very strong. Jager is certainly due for a major win in the US this season.

Defending Porter Cup Champion Adam Mitchell and his University of Georgia teammate Brian Harman, the 2007 Porter Cup Champion and tournament record-holder, are also in the international field with players from Canada, New Zealand, England, China, South Korea, Scotland, Italy, and South Africa.

Neither Mitchell (8th) or Harman (16th) are the highest ranking work amateur playing this week. That distinction belongs to Zack Sucher, who is currently 7th in the world. Last summer, Sucher finished second at a rain-soaked Porter Cup, three strokes behind Mitchell. The best performance by an Australian was Matthew Griffin at 1-over, eleven strokes behind Mitchell.

For the Americans there is more than a Porter Cup title on the line this week. A new sense of urgency will come over the Niagara Falls Country Club with spots on the US Walker Cup 10-man team on the line.

The Walker Cup match between the United States and a team from Great Britain and Ireland is the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup. It has been moved from its August slot to September this year. The Porter Cup therefore becomes one of the last opportunities to impress the selection committee.

The majority of the US Walker Cup Team will be picked after the Western Amateur in Lake Forest in two weeks time in Chicago. Players on the bubble will have the next two tournaments to make an impression upon selectors.

As far as US major amateur events, the Porter Cup is viewed as a must play tournament. PGA Tour players such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Hal Sutton and Justin Leonard have challenged for the trophy with Mickelson the sole victor, claiming the title in 1990.

First played in 1959, only one Australian, Simon Nash in 2002, has ever won the Porter Cup. Whilst the current Australian and New Zealand Amateur Stroke Champion, Bryden Macpherson is not competing, the ten strong Australian contingent should contest this tournament strongly.

Keep an eye out for the likes of MacManus, Nisbet, Giles, Beckmann, Bluemink and Jager. One of them might just break the Aussie drought at Niagara Falls Country Club.