Patrick Sheehan (Pennsylvania Golf Association Photo)
Three years after finishing as runner-up in the 2021 Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship, Patrick Sheehan (Talamore CC) put together an incredible week of golf to claim the 21st annual Sigel title at Sunnehanna Country Club.
Battling one of the strongest fields in Sigel memory, Sheehan finished third on the leaderboard after 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and finally found the consistency he had been missing at Sunnehanna.
“I really thought I found something in my game this past week,” said Sheehan. “I was excited for this event because I never play well at Sunnehanna but I knew I could play well at Sunnehanna. I got some confidence in the second round on Monday with my iron play and it really translated into match play. I made one bogey in match play, which was great. You’re not going to lose many holes if you only make one bogey.”
Sheehan led the field—which included multiple previous winners of the event and other top talent who have been winning tournaments all around Pennsylvania and beyond—with 12 birdies in stroke play and earned an impressive total of 31-under-par after 93 holes.
“It was a great field and that’s one of the reasons I played,” said Sheehan. “I love this event, and it’s such a hard cut to make, down to 16 from 72 players. I just knew I wanted to give myself a chance going into match play, but I give it to the guys I played against; they played well, but I just really had my best stuff these past three days.”
Patrick points to his putting as one of the reasons he was able to take home the title.
“I really did putt great, which was nice to see because I struggle with the putter at times,” admitted Sheehan. “Billy Pabst came on the bag for the last three matches I had, and I’m grateful for him because he really helped me out. I feel like I really know this golf course and I knew where the pins were at and where the slopes are. There are spots where you can hit it where you’re going to give yourself a good chance to make it even if it is 20 or 30 feet, and I made a lot of those putts this week that I don’t normally make.”
Sheehan, the 23-year-old recent Penn State University graduate from Doylestown, Pa, was the No. 3 seed in the bracket and part of a very youthful final four competitors. He faced off against Nicholas Turowski (Hannastown GC) on Wednesday morning, who will be a freshman on the golf team at West Virginia this fall.
Turowski found himself 2-up after the first five holes, but Sheehan quickly turned things around, winning holes No. 7, 9, 10, and 11 to take a 2-up advantage of his own. He also took holes 15 and 16 to wrap up the match, 3 & 2.
In the other semifinal, it took No. 5 seed Peyton Mussina (Williamsport CC) 19 holes to get past Amani D’Ambrosio (Longue Vue Club), who was the top seed in the bracket and medalist winner after Monday’s stroke play. Both men won four holes each during the regulation 18, but Mussina birdied hole No. 1 to advance to the Championship Match to face Sheehan.
Sheehan came out scorching in the head-to-head matchup, winning four holes on the front nine (including birdies on 1, 5, and 9) to go 4-up. Mussina birdied to win the par-five 11th hole to cut into Sheehan’s lead, but Patrick added another birdie on 14 and held par on 15 to end the match, 4 & 3, to secure his first R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship.
View results for Pennsylvania Amateur Match Play
ABOUT THE Pennsylvania Amateur Match Play
Open to any male amateur golfer who is a member
of a
club belonging to the Pennsylvania Golf Association.
Format consists of two rounds of stroke play
followed
by a cut to the low 16 players for match play.
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