McCarthy, MacManus open well at Western
BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Western Amateur Championship | Round One | 05 Aug 2009
Tarquin MacManus and Ryan McCarthy have opened strongly at The Western Amateur being played at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, just north of Chicago.
McCarthy, winner of the Tasmanian Open and Tasmanian Amateur in 2009, opened with a 2-over-par 73 to be in a tie for 28th, whilst MacManus opened with a 3-over-par 74 to be currently in a tie for 44th.
The Australians are within six of the leaders after Oklahoma State’s Kevin Tway shot 4-under par 67 to share the first-round lead with Illinois senior Zach Barlow and Andrew Yun.
The remaining Australians, Jason Scrivener and Luke Bleumink, will need to make their move to survive the low 44 scores and tie cut mark following Wednesday’s second round. Scrivener opened with a 5-over-par 76 and is in a tie for 70th, whilst Bluemink fired a 6-over-par 77 and is in a tie for 80th.
This year’s Western Amateur format includes two, 18-hole stroke play rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a cut for the low 44 scores and ties. The players then play 36 holes of stroke play on Thursday, with the low 16 advancing to the match play segment of the championship on Friday. The winner will be determined following elimination match play which concludes on Saturday.
Yun, 18, recently lost in a playoff at the Porter Cup and finished fifth at the Pacific Coast Amateur. Tway, the son of PGA Tour Professional Bob Tway, is ranked 45th in the world and was a quarter-finalist at the 2008 US Amateur.
Tway has attracted considerable attention this week in Chicago and is aiming to collect his first major US amateur title with his best finish a tied 3rd at the 2008 Azalea Amateur. Barlow is the current Illinois State Amateur Champion and is coming off a tied 12th finish at this year’s Sunnehanna Amateur.
One look at the list of previous winners of the Western Amateur confirms the tournament’s standing on the world amateur stage. Jack Nicklaus (1961), Ben Crenshaw (1973), Curtis Strange (1974), Hal Sutton (1979-80), Chris DiMarco (1988), Phil Mickelson (1991), Justin Leonard (1992-93) and Tiger Woods (1994) are all former winners at the Western.
Australian Bronson LaCassie won the title in 2006 in what he later described as one of his major achievements as an amateur, before he joined the professional ranks.
