ROSE BAY, Australia (November 15, 2016) -- 13
amateurs, including three via Monday qualifying, will be
joining the professionals this
week at the Australian Open being held at Royal
Sydney Golf Club. The group is headlined by U.S.
Amateur winner Curtis Luck
and last weeks New South Wales Open runner-up Brett
Coletta.
The amateurs will be joining a talented professional
field
that includes the likes of Jordan Spieth and
Australian's Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy. Unfortunately
Australian and defending champion Matt Jones had to
withdraw in an effort to keep his full PGA Tour playing
rights.
In 2015 the low amateur was Australian Ryan
Ruffels who tied for 22nd.
Amateurs in the Field
Harrison Endycott (Australia)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 1
Throughout the year Endycott has recorded five
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking event victories
while also
finishing in a tie for second at The Players Amateur. The
biggest win of Endycott's 2016 campaign was his
comeback victory in July at the Porter Cup. Endycott
was also a part of the World Team Amateur winning
Australian side.
Curtis Luck (Australia)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 4
Luck had designs on turning professional during the
latter part of the 2016 season but those plans changed
when he won the U.S. Amateur in August. With the
victory Luck earned entries into the 2017 Masters and
U.S. Open and as a result he decided to put his plans of
playing professionally on hold. Since winning at Oakland
Hills Country Club Luck has added the Asia-Pacific
Amateur trophy to his ever growing collection.
Luck, who finished second in the individual
standings, was also part of the Australian team that won
the World Amateur Team title in record setting fashion.
Connor Syme (Scotland)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 7
2016 has been an impressive year for Syme as he
has earned points in 16 Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com
Rankings
events. At the British Amateur Syme earned medalist
honors while also picking up fifth place finishes at the
European Amateur and Scottish Open Amateur. Syme
made a run to the semifinals at the Scottish Amateur
Championship as well.
Syme will enter the Australian Open fresh off a tie
for 20th
at the New South Wales Open.
Travis Smyth (Australia)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 18
Smyth joined the Australian Open field after his
strong play in Monday qualifying. The best finish in a
2016 Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking event for
Smyth came at the Australian Men's Amateur where he
finished runner-up. Overall Smyth has recored seven
top-10 finishes throughout the year, including a T4 at
the Porter Cup.
Brett Coletta (Australia)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 37
Coletta has put together an impressive start to the
Australian summer season. It started with a win at the
Queensland Open where he became the first amateur
since Stuart Appleby to win the title. The success
continued last week at the New South Wales
Open where
after leading following the first round he finished tied for
second at 20-under.
The 2016 season has also included four
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking event top-10
finishes with the best being a runner-up finish at the
Asia-Pacific Amateur. Coletta led after both the second
and third rounds before he was overtaken by the hard
charging Luck in the final round.
In 2015 Coletta earned
medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur.
Austin Bautista (Australia)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 55
After winning the Federal Open Amateur at
the beginning of the month Bautista made his way into
the field through Monday qualifying. The win at the
Federal Open Amateur was Bautista's second
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking event win of the
year after he also claimed the NSW Amateur in February.
In total Bautista has six top-10
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com finishes in 2016.
Zach Murray (Australia)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 176
After playing in Monday qualifying Murray was able
to
secure his spot in the Australian Open. Murray was the
winner of the 2015 Australian Master of the Amateurs
and also picked up a tied for second finish at this years
Keperra Bowl.
Kazuki Higa (Japan)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 257
In 2016 Higa made a run at a pair of
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Rankings events placing
second at the
Japan Amateur Golf Championship and 10th at the Asia-
Pacific Amateur. Higa has also had strong finishes at the
Japan Open (T14) and Bridgestone Open (T18).
Daniel Hillier (New Zealand)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 330
This year has included four
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com
Ranking event point earning finishes for Hillier. Thus far
his best finish came in the form of a tie sixth at the New
Zealand Stroke Play. Last year Hillier picked up his
biggest career win at the New Zealand Amateur.
Hillier punched his ticket into the the Australian
Open field by winning the Australian Junior
Championship in April.
Min Woo Lee (Australia)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 558
Lee became better known globally this past
summer by winning the U.S. Junior Amateur.
In 2015 Lee won the 2015 West Australian Amateur.
Yuxin Lin (China)
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Ranking: No. 1,218
Lin finished in a tie for 21st at the Asia-Pacific
Amateur this year.
Zhihong Zhang (China)
Bai Zhengkai (China)
The 19-year-old made an appearance stateside in
2016 and finished tied for second at the PGA Golf Club
Tournament one year after winning the 2015 edition.
Zhengkai also finished 16th at the 2015 Junior PGA
Championship.
ABOUT THE Australian Open
The Australian Open is Golf Australia's National Open
Men's Championship, and is sanctioned by the
Australian
PGA Tour and forms part of the ONEASIA series of
events. Many of Australia's top amateurs qualify for
the
event.
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