Eleven strong Aussie field at Players Am
BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2010 Players Amateur | Preview | 08 Jul 2010
An eleven strong Australian contingent is set to contest The 11th Players Amateur at The Belfair in Bluffton, South Carolina.
Bryden Macpherson, fresh from a tied 3rd place finish last week at The Dogwood Invitational, spearheads the Aussie lineup which includes Jason Scrivener, Tim Hart, Kalem Richardson, Jordan Sherratt, Mitch Krywulycz, Kieran Pratt, Ryan McCarthy, Brendan Smith, Luke Bleumink and Daniel Beckman.
McCarthy, Scrivener and Richardson last week also secured a top-20 finish at The Dogwood with Scrivener backing that effort up with a 17th finish the week before at the Northeast Amateur for his second consecutive top-20 finish in a main US amateur tournament since arriving in the US earlier this month.
University of Alabama junior Bud Cauley, runner-up to Jordan Sherratt at the Master of the Amateurs last January in Melbourne, is the defending champion of the Players Amateur Tournament and returns to Belfair to defend his title. The 2009 Walker Cup team member and world number 6 is the highest ranked amateur playing this week.
Another 2009 Walker Cup member, Morgan Hoffmann, is also in the field. Hoffman is a standout performer on Oklahoma State University Golf team. He also qualified for his first US Open earlier this month after carding back-to-back 67’s in the Memphis regional qualifier.
Last year Cauley carded a 6-under-par finish, two strokes ahead of George Bryan IV, with Tarquin Macmanus and Luke Bleumink finishing the best of the Australians in a tie for 6th at 2-under-par.
Despite the tournament’s short life of 10 years, the Players Amateur enjoys a world tournament ranking of 13, with the tournament moving up the ranking board in recent years, and is considered by many players as a main US amateur event to secure.
Aron Price won the event in 2004 and is the only Australian to claim the title to date. Previous winners include British Open Champion, Ben Curtis, Bill Haas, Rickie Fowler and Camilo Villegas, all current PGA Tour players.
The cut will come in at the top 48 plus ties following Saturday’s 3rd round.
