Duo separated by shot headed into final round
EAST PROVIDENCE – When posed the query, Cal-Berkeley senior-to-be Collin Morikawa, the third-ranked amateur in the world, seemed at first confused.
He had just manufactured a superb threeunder 66 during his tour of the par-69 Wannamoisett Country Club layout on Friday afternoon, and – coupled with his previous rounds of 64-65 – sat atop the leaderboard at the 56th annual Northeast Amateur Invitational Tournament with a phenomenal 12-under total of 195.
Morikawa, of La Canada Flintridge, Calif, also shattered the previous three-round aggregate mark, one held since 2011 when Peter Uihlein of Orlando shot 62 on the third afternoon.
“Am I on fire? I don’t feel like I am,” he said. “I’m just playing very solid golf right now. I think it’s confidence. I’m striking the ball well, and putting well. It’s a mental game, and I’m just trying to use it to my advantage.”
A week before the Northeast, he lost in a playoff to Braden Thornberry at the Sunnehanna Amateur in Pennsylvania to fall from first to third in the world rankings, but indicated his shot-making gave him a good feeling entering the prestigious event in Rumford.
On Friday, he toured the front side in 33 after birdies on the par-4 fifth hole and par-3 eighth, but bogeyed the seventh. The back nine proved lucky for him, however. After dropping in a 12-footer for bird on the par-4 11th, he parred the 211-yard 12th, then slid in a side-door five-footer for a birdie three on the 13th.
He also mustered a three on the dog-leg, par-4 14th before parring in.
The links proved tougher as clouds formed and the winds picked up later in the afternoon, yet Morikawa’s buddy, Texas senior-to-be Doug Ghim, had little issue with it. He fought off the gusts to record a twounder 67, and trailed Morikawa by a mere stroke at 12-under (196).
“The course played a little more difficult, which is what I kind of remember (from the third 18) two years ago,” Ghim offered. “I finally made a bogey in the tournament, but I knew it was going to be that kind of day. It seemed that way when I got to the putting green before I was teeing off. I kind of got in a grinding mode, tried to attack it. I made a couple of good putts here and there, so I’m pretty much where I want to be.”
Ghim admitted he “lucked out” after chipping in for birdie on the fifth hole, though bogeyed the 190-yard eighth. He then assembled birdies on the 10th, 13th and 17th before suffering a bogey five on the final hole.
“When I chipped in for birdie on the fifth, my dad (caddy Jeff) laughed and said, ‘You’re going to get rewarded if you keep hitting good shots,’” Ghim noted. “That was kind of the theme of the day. I knew the course was playing tough … On 18, I hit a bad tee shot, bad second shot, bad third shot, bad fourth shot, but I rolled one in to save bogey.
“Very rarely can you say you made a good bogey; I was staring double in the face. It’s going to come down to a stroke at the end of the day, so any- thing would’ve helped. That putt was big.”
Morikawa and Ghim spent the initial 36 holes as partners, and will be paired together again today with Theo Humphrey of Greenwich, Conn. and Vanderbilt.
“We’re all playing really good golf right now,” Ghim said. “I’m excited about the pairing. Collin and Theo are great players, so they can attack you from every angle.”
When asked what it would mean to him to win the Northeast, he responded, “The course, the field, the people involved, this is one of the biggest tournaments of the year, and we all look forward to playing here. It would mean the world to any one of us. It would mean we’d had beaten some of the best players in the world.”
Thirty-six hole leader Humphrey skied to a 71 for sole possession of third at 199; and Texas A&M product Chandler Phillips shot 66 for fourth (200).
Cole Hammer of Houston, Tex. managed a 66 himself to snag fifth at 204, nine shots behind Morikawa, while four others tied for sixth at 205, including first-round leader Nick Voke of Auckland, N.Z. Voke had posted a six-under 63 for the tourney’s top spot on Wednesday, but settled for one-over 70 and a three-round aggregate of 205.
“The wind was tremendously difficult,” Voke stated. “(Friday) was probably the worse day when it comes to ball-striking. I didn’t give myself many opportunities with the putter. I drove it really well, only missed two fairways, but my short game was pretty sub-standard. Actually, it was rubbish.”
Nick Handy, a senior-to-be at Illinois, mentioned he felt the same way after shooting a six-over 40 on the front nine. After bogeying the first, fifth, sixth and nine – and suffering a double-bogey six on the par-four seventh, he believed he was doomed.
“You know, things weren’t going my way all day; I didn’t have a good attitude on the front, and my caddy (teammate Eric Markus) said, ‘Handy, you’ve got to change this! This is sad! You’ve only got nine holes left,’” he chuckled. “I parred (holes) 10, 11 and 12, despite the fact I missed every green (in regulation).”
He responded with ferocity, though. He registered birdied five of the last six to fire a five-under 30 on the back for an astonishing, turnaround 70.
“The saving grace came on the 13th,” he said. “I drove it into the trees on the left, and I thought I was in big trouble, but I saw an opening through the branches and hit a gap wedge to within a foot. I went for the green on the 14th and got up and down for bird. On the 16th, I only had 100 yards in and bit a lob wedge to 10 feet and made it.
“When I walked off that green, I thought, ‘I think I salvaged this round.’ I got a bonus birdie on 18.”
When it comes to local amateurs, Coventry’s Bobby Leopold achieved another solid round; following two consecutive 70s, he settled for twoover 71 to tie 40th at four-over 211. Recent Bishop Feehan graduate Davis Chatfield, stood a stroke back at 212 after producing a four-over 73 on Friday.
Both nevertheless made the cut, which included the top 55 scorers and ties; that fell at 213.
“It all started on (No.) 2; I hit it left and couldn’t find it, so I had to go back and hit another and double-bogeyed it,” Chatfield said of a front side that left him with three other bogeys and a lone bird. “I was just thinking that I had been in this type of situation before, on the cut line, and I knew I needed to get back into it. I was fiveover after seven holes, but then birdied the eighth.
“I wanted to take it shot-by-shot, and it worked.”