Scrivener, McCarthy qualify for US Am
BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2010 US Amateur Championship | General | 10 Aug 2010
Jason Scrivener and Ryan McCarthy have made the field list to be with fellow countryman, Matt Smith, as the sole Australian qualifiers for this year’s US Amateur Championship to be played at Chambers Bay in Washington commencing August 23rd.
Scrivener was sectional medalist for the 36-hole qualifier at Meadville in Pennsylvania, finishing three strokes clear of his nearest rival, American Brinson Paolini, at 11-under-par.
The result was a huge relief for Scrivener who will play in his first US Amateur after one earlier attempt last year in qualifying. Signs of promise that his game was on the improve leading into this year’s qualifier came from his top-10 finish a fortnight ago at the Porter Cup and two top-20 finishes at the Dogwood Invitational and Northeast Amateur earlier in the month.
“I feel my game has been getting gradually better over the last couple months here in the US,” said Scrivener, winner of the 2009 Mandurah Eastern Amateur and Western Australian Amateur who’s presently ranked 46th in the world.
Scrivener had only last week finished playing the Western Amateur north of Chicago and boarded a flight to Pennsylvania optimistic that he could secure one of the two qualification spots from the 52 starters in the field.
“The US Amateur is easily one of hardest event to qualify for,” he says.
“I played solid most the day and the conditions were perfect. It’s always tough in qualifiers you never know what to expect, so I just went in with the mentality that I had to go as low as possible.”
It will be Scrivener’s first appearance at a US Amateur. Last year he narrowly missed qualification, finishing the first alternate at Long Island Country Club in New York.
“I’m looking forward to my first US Amateur,” says Scrivener.
“I feel my game has toughen over the last few months with the tournaments that I’ve been playing in and the quality of the fields. Once you get into the matchplay anything can happen.”
Ryan McCarthy was another Aussie to have plenty to smile about as well, finishing the second qualifier at Indianapolis Country Club on Monday against a 60 strong field.
“I managed to score well despite not putting well,” said McCarthy.
“It was one of those days where I got the job done and the result that I needed. To qualify for the US Amateur and knowing that I’ll be playing one of the biggest amateur tournaments in the world is massive for me.”
This season McCarthy has played consistent golf in the US, recording three top-20 finishes at the Porter Cup, Southern Amateur and the Dogwood Invitational. The tour represents his first main hit-out against the strong American fields and the 2009 Tasmanian Open and Amateur Champion knows that it’s has, and continues to be, beneficial for his personal game development.
“You learn so much about what it’s like to compete against strong fields, which is something we just don’t get back home as everyone knows each other,” says McCarthy.
“It’s toughened me tremendously and you play with a different perspective at what’s required to get the job done. Teeing up in a US sectional qualifier was a relative unknown for me, yet you realise just how competitive it is here when there are fifty or sixty guys going for three to two spots.”
Scrivener, McCarthy and Smith are the only Australian’s to qualify for the US Amateur.
As national titles go, the US Amateur is arguably the hardest to get into, the toughest to compete in, and the most prized of the amateur trophies to claim.
Keeping in perspective that with limited qualification spots for the main draw proper of 312 players plus exemptions, the challenge of making a US Amateur field presents a massive task.
Apart from a small exemption category determined in advanced, which mainly consists of former USGA event winners, the majority of the some 7000 entries accepted by the USGA for the 2010 US Amateur had to play National qualifying conducted at one of the 99 sites across the US from July 20th to August 10th.
Last year at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Texan based Smith was the sole Australian to qualify for the championship and he progressed to the top-32. Smith again has qualified to return to compete in his second US Amateur.
Byeong-Hun An, a 17-year-old South Korean native, created history winning last year’s US Amateur Championship against fourth seed, Ben Martin, 7&5, and in the process became the youngest US Amateur champion.
In 2003, a 19-year-old Nick Flanagan became the first Australian in over 100 years to win this coveted championship when the Novcastrian accounted for Casey Wittenberg on the first play-off hole at Oakmont Country Club, Pennsylvania.
