Having lived a little leads to perspective
As competitive amateur golf skews younger and younger, it’s rare to find a player such as Jason Anthony .Hehasa full-time job, a back story, a meandering path of ups and downs and real-world experiences. Or put another way: He’s an adult. “I’m the old man of the group,” Anthony said.
He was referring to the quarterfinalists in this year’s San Francisco City Championship. Anthony, who turns 34 next month, counts as the grizzled veteran among the players who will convene Saturday at Harding Park.
Both the men’s and women’s championship brackets, as usual, are filled with high-school and college kids about to embark on life’s journey. There are a couple recent college graduates on the men’s side — Ned Jensen from Lynchburg College (in Virginia) by way of Riordan High, Seb Crookall-Nixon from England and USF — but Anthony brings a distinctive background.
He grew up in Fairfield, spent three years at Napa Valley College and played one year at Fresno State. Then he turned professional, a four-year odyssey that included three seasons on the Canadian Tour.
Anthony didn’t play especially well, didn’t enjoy all the practice and became homesick. So he came home, joined the family business — his grandfather founded 7 Flags Car Wash, which now includes 12 locations in Solano County — and took a long break from golf.
“It became a job and I stopped loving it,” he said. “I actually put away my clubs for almost a year. I was playing in U.S. Open local qualifying, and it was almost like an epiphany. I left after nine holes and didn’t touch a club for 11 months. It was a peaceful time in my life.”
Anthony eventually regained his amateur status and started playing golf for fun. He craves competition, but he loathes pounding balls on the range — which is a prerequisite for any tour pro trying to earn a living.
Even today, Anthony doesn’t hit more than 100 range balls a year. He’ll smack four 8-irons and four 4-irons before his round, then show up on the No. 1 tee ready to roll. His friends laugh about this, but it works for him.
Anthony twice qualified for the U.S. Amateur (2012 and ’13) and reached the round of 16 in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur. He has played in seven USGA events in all, which puts him approximately seven ahead of most others in the City Championship.
His biggest lesson from those big events: avoid wild swings in emotion.
“I watch these kids, and they get really up and down,” Anthony said. “They make a long birdie putt and it’s a big fist pump. Three-putt and the world’s coming to an end. I’ve seen an opponent get energy off that. …
“What I’ve learned is how to handle yourself when you have adversity. Any time you show weakness, it gives your opponent an advantage.”
Anthony will meet Crookall-Nixon in one of Saturday morning’s quarterfinal matches. The semifinals will be held Saturday afternoon and the 36-hole final on Sunday.
The women’s bracket follows a similar schedule, with Pioneer High-San Jose junior Sabrina Iqbal trying to repeat as champion. She earned stroke-play medalist honors and cruised to a 6-and-4 win in her first-round match last weekend. Augusta in sight: Quick, name the reigning Masters champion. Not so easy, is it? Last year’s Masters always will be remembered for Jordan Spieth’s backnine meltdown, at least in the U.S. Danny Willett, an unheralded Englishman, will not receive proper credit for earning his green jacket with a final-round, bogey-free 67.
That’s partly because of the dramatic nature of Spieth’s collapse, most notably splashing two shots into the creek on No. 12. It’s also because Spieth already was a prominent player and Willett came out of nowhere — and sort of vanished in the wake of his victory at Augusta National.
Willett, who seldom plays in PGA Tour events, did not crack the top 30 in last year’s other three majors. His results in the past year on the European Tour have been uneven, a string of middle-ofthe-pack finishes interrupted by occasional top-10s.
“Every week is going to be a failure compared to that Masters week,” Willett said on a conference call. “If you don’t win a major and get the same feelings I did on Sunday at Augusta, it doesn’t feel as good. … Yeah, getting the confidence back has been a bit tricky.”
Willett remains No. 14 in the world ranking heading into this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. The Masters is only three weeks away (April 6-9). Briefly: Lake Merced will host U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifying June 5. This year’s Women’s Open will be held July 13-16 at Trump National in New Jersey. … San Jose State’s My Leander ,a senior from Sweden, was named Mountain West women’s golfer of the week.