Monday finish gives young golfers chance to see their idols

NEWTOWN TWP. » While crowds at Aronimink Golf Club were relatively light Monday, the gallery was sprinkled with high school golfers who used their day off for Rosh Hashanah to view final-round action at the BMW Championship.

A group of Oxford High School golfers came out after their match with Coatesville was postponed. The Hornets had a good reason to scout the course.

“Our team will be playing here at Aronimink next year, against Conestoga,” Rocco Giannangeli said, watching Tiger Woods tee off on the 10th hole. “This course looked tough to play today.”

Haverford School senior Zak Summy, whose Fords have played the front nine at Aronimink, watched the leaders tee off on 18.

“It looks like this course is set up hard for the pros, but it’s interesting to see how they handle it,” Summy said. “This is a tough course. I’m glad I got out here to see it.”

Radnor sophomore Aidan Welsh, a member at Aronimink, watched the leaders come up to the 18th green.

“With the heat and then the rain, we’ve had a lot of different conditions this week, but for these (pros) that’s nothing special, they can handle anything they really want to,” Welsh said. “I’m impressed with how well the players handle this course, all the effort they put in.

“They smack the ball, flying it up there, they come out early in the morning to practice and they’re ready to go, they’re shooting under 70. Phil Mickelson is in last place out here, and he’s killing it.”

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You can count Billy Horschel as one of many players impressed that the PGA, and Aronimink Superintendent John Gosselin and his staff, were able to get the course so playable after all of the rain.

“It’s a big ass miracle that we got this round in,” he said. “The staff here at Aronimink and the PGA Tour staff did an unbelievable job with the golf course and getting it in somewhat shape to play.”

Horschel finished in a tie for third place with Xander Schauffele at 19-under 261. Both missed the playoff by a stroke.

“Been a long week,” said Schauffele, the reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. “Kind of refreshing to be in the hunt and play well. I shot 3-under which was probably one of my better final rounds.

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Vince Pellegrino, the Western Golf Association Senior Vice President of Tournaments, had nothing but positive thoughts leaving Aronimink Monday.

“It has been a difficult weather week for us and it’s really a shame because we’ve had an incredible leaderboard, incredible support from the Philadelphia community that’s been tremendous with the fans,” he said.

Due to the complication of moving the final round to Monday, the PGA Tour was unable to furnish the attendance numbers for the tournament.