Dylan Meyer with Western Amateur trophy
(Western Golf Association Photo)
LAKE FOREST, ILL (August 6, 2016) -- Illinois junior Dylan Meyer upset top-seed, Florida sophomore Sam Horsfield and won the Western Amateur. Meyer fell behind early but was able to come from behind to defeat Horsfield 3&1 at the Knollwood Club.
“It’s an honor, and I haven’t let it totally sink in yet,” Meyer told the Western Golf Association of winning the Western Amateur. “It’s still kind of brand new.”
Horsfield won the 2nd and 5th holes to grab a quick 2 up lead and it looked like the medalist winner was going to make it a clean sweep of the week.
However, the momentum of the match changed just one hole later, as Meyer won his first hole of the match by saving par from the green side bunker and then tied it with a par on No. 7. The match remained all-square until the 10th when Meyer birdied and took his first lead. Meyer then kept his lead with a 20-foot par putt on the 11th.
“I didn't play bad at all, and Dylan played great,” Horsfield said. “It’s a game of inches, and I was close. I had a couple of bad breaks here and there and had a couple of lipped out putts. That’s all it was, he played his butt off. Hats off to him for winning. You have to be on top of your game all week, and the best player wins.”
Following another series of halves Meyer, a 2016 All-Big Ten first teamer, extended his lead with a birdie on No. 16 that moved his advantage to 2 up and then closed out the match on the 17th with a second consecutive birdie.
“There was no point I felt like I had total control, because anything can happen in the championship match,” said Meyer. “Going to the 17 tee box, I felt like I had a pretty good chance.”
SEMIFINAL RECAP
Sam Horsfield will take on Dylan Meyer in the Western Amateur final at the Knollwood Club. Horsfield, took on Davis Riley in the semifinals won 2&1 but had to rally from 4 down after 10 holes.
Horsfield held a 1 up lead after four holes, only to see Davis win five of the next six holes and grab a 4 up advantage.
Needing to rally, Horsfield won four of the next five holes, to tie the match and then won the next two holes to close the match out. In all it was a remarkable six wins in seven holes for Horsfield.
Dylan Meyer reached the finals thanks to a 4&2 win over Will Gordon. Meyer won the first hole of the day and never looked back, leading by at least two for most of the match.
-The Western Golf Association contributed to this story
ABOUT THE Western Amateur
Invitational event, and the most important
tournament in American amateur golf outside of the
U.S. Amateur. With a grueling schedule, it's quite
possibly the
hardest amateur tournament to win.
156 invited players come from across the
globe to play one of the toughest formats in
amateur golf. The tournament starts with 18
holes of stroke play on Tuesday and
Wednesday after which the field is cut to the
low 44 scores and ties. Thursday it's a long
day of 36 holes of stroke play to determine
the “Sweet Sixteen” who compete at Match
Play on Friday and Saturday (two matches
each day if you're going to the finals) to
decide the champion.
View Complete Tournament Information