Bryson DeChambeau and Romain Langasque
AUGUSTA, Georgia (April 10, 2016) -- First off, as a golfing community let’s all exhale! What a final two hours at the Masters. I’m sure like us here at AmateurGolf.com you didn’t see any of those twists or turns coming.
Now to the business at hand, breaking down the final rounds of Bryson DeChambeau and Romain Langasque. We will start with DeChambeau, who rebounded nicely from his third round 77 with a final day even-par 72, his third 72 of the Masters. DeChambeau finished the tournament as the low amateur at 5-over, winning the Silver Cup. He finished T21 overall.
“It’s just an honor to be able to be the low amateur out here,” said DeChambeau, seated in the Butler Cabin during the Green Jacket ceremony. “Never in a million years did I think I would be the low amateur out here but it is quite an honor and I have worked really hard to get to this point.”
DeChambeau, clad in SMU red, began his final round as an amateur at 12:25 p.m. EST and got off to a solid start with a 1-under front nine after eight pars and a birdie on No. 2.
On the back nine, it looked for a stretch as if things were going to spiral out of control, however DeChambeau was able to right the ship and bounce back from three bogeys to birdie No. 15 and 18. The birdie on the closing hole had to feel extra sweet to DeChambeau after he had triple-bogeyed and then double-bogeyed the hole each of the last two days.
A birdie on the 18th hole as at Augusta National seems a fitting end to a stellar amateur career. DeChambeau will embark on his professional journey starting with this week's PGA Tour RBC Heritage Classic.
“Well next week is Hilton Head and I go professional then and I look forward to hopefully making a check," said DeChambeau.
Based on his performance at The Masters and as an amateur at other professional events -- remember the T2 at the Australian Masters? -- we have a feeling that the checks are going to flow pretty regularly.
DeChambeau's amateur career has been nothing short of remarkable. In 2015, he became the fifth player to ever win the NCAA Individual title and U.S. Amateur championship in the same year. He also qualified for the U.S. Open, but missed the cut at Chambers Bay. Another amateur highlight was a victory at the 2013 Trans-Miss Amateur.
Upon turning pro this week DeChambeau will go the sponsor exemption route in an attempt to earn his PGA Tour card. Under PGA Tour rules, he is allowed to receive a maximum of seven sponsor exemptions. Add to that the invitations into the Memorial and Quicken Loans National, that came with his 2015 U.S. Amateur win, and it gives the Californian a total of nine events to earn enough money for a 2017 PGA Tour card.
Romain Langasque (+10-T39): Impressive to say the least for the reigning British Amateur champion. After opening 74-73 to easily make the cut Langasque struggled to an 83 in the third round. Clearly undeterred, Langasque was 15-strokes better in his final round.
Langasque fired a closing 4-under-par 68 with all the fireworks coming on his final nine holes. His 68 was tied for the second lowest score of the day. Only three players were better on Sunday as winner Danny Willett, Paul Casey and Matthew Fitzpatrick all shot 67.
The 20-year-old Frenchman bogeyed No. 1 then pared the final eight holes on the front nine. On the back nine Langasque quickly got back to even-par for the day with a birdie on the 10th. He then turned up the accelerator and showed the world a glimpse of his full potential by birdieing four of the final five holes; 14, 15, 16 and 18 to close his round.
The torrid 5-under-par 31 on the back nine allowed Langasque to improve upon his previous best finish in a major, a T65 at last year’s British Open. His homeward 31 matched the all-time amateur low score on the back nine at Augusta.
ABOUT THE
The Masters
One of Golf's four professional majors
traditionally invites amateurs who have reached
the
finals of the US Amateur, or won the British
Amateur
or
the US Mid Amateur. Also included are
the winners of the relatively new Asia Pacific
Amateur
and Latin American Amateur.
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