Steelman Is Medalist at Western Am; Hitchner Makes Sweet 16

National

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. -- Sometimes a golf swing just starts to work. That was what happened for Ross Steelman during the second round of the stroke-play portion of the Western Amateur this week. He opened the tournament with a 1-over-par 72 at Exmoor Country Club on Tuesday. But he began to make progress on the back nine Wednesday (he started on the 10th hole), shooting a 2-under 34.

Then the game became easy for the 21-year-old from Columbia, Missiouri. He birdied three of the first six holes on the front nine Wednesday, holed a wedge shot for an eagle 2 at the 363-yard, par-4 seventh hole, and parred the eighth and ninth holes for a 30, and second round of 64. On Thursday morning, he made six birdies and one bogey in a 66, and poured in another five birdies in the afternoon while shooting 68. All of which added up to a 72-hole total of 270 (14 under), and that was good enough to claim medalist honors.

For his last 45 holes of stroke play, he was 13 under par. 

Steelman, who will be a senior at Georgia Tech in a few weeks, said that he hadn't been playing all that well lately, but that he and his coach have been working on his swing, and "it just kind of clicked, and I started to trust it on the back nine yesterday (Tuesday).

"I started hitting it really well, hit a couple pretty close," he noted. "Then I pitched in for an eagle (on No. 7, a 363-yard par 4), and it was off to the races from there. 

Steelman finished two shots ahead of Matthis Besard, a 22-year-old from Belgium who finished his senior season at Southern Illinois University this spring. Besard matched the low score of the final round with a 66. 

William Mouw, a three-time All-American at Pepperdine who capped off his junior year by tying for fifth at the NCAA Championship, one shot out of a playoff for the individual title, was tied with Steelman for the lead after 54 holes. But he closed with a 71 and slipped back into third place at 273. 

Then came a five-way tie for fourth place at 275 that included Derek Hitchner, the 2021 MGA Player of the Year -- and a teammate of Mouw's at Pepperdine. Hitchner started the final round of stroke play on the outside looking in at the top 16, but he changed that by making birdies on the first two holes. He bogeyed the fourth, but got that stroke back with a birdie at the 192-yard, par-3 fifth hole, and he birdied the other par 3 on the front nine (No. 8, 211 yards), as well.

Hitchner, who won the 2021 Trans-Mississippi and the Minnesota State Amateur two weeks later -- in the week between, he finished second in the State Open -- moved into the top 10 at Exmoor by making birdies on both of the back nine par 5s, the 576-yard 11th and the 573-yard 15th, thereby matching the fourth-round 66's by Besard and Travis Vick. Hitchner is the No. 6 seed for match play.

With his 66, Vick moved up into a three-way tie for ninth at 276, and there was another three-way tie for 12th at 277. Michael Thorbjornson, who won this tournament last year, was part of that threesome, after closing medal play with a 71.

Five players tied for 15th, which meant a 7-for-2 playoff to determine the last two entrants into the match-play portion of the tournament. Austin Greaser got the first of those spots, and Adrien Dumont de Chassart, another Belgian, got the last spot by making a 20-foot birdie putt on the seventh extra hole.  

Frankie Capan, the 2020 MGA Player of the Year and State Amateur champion, closed with a 68 but missed the playoff by a single stroke, with a 279.    


Western Amateur

At Exmoor Country Club

Par 71, 7,149 yards

Highland Park, Ill. 

Stroke play (72 holes -- the top 16 finishers qualified for match play)

1. Ross Steelman                             72-64-66-68--270 (14 under)

2. Matthis Besard                              72-66-68-66--272

3. William Mouw                                70-64-68-71--273

T4. Derek Hitchner                           67-71-71-66--275

T4. Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira      66-72-69-68--275

T4. Cole Sherwood                            68-70-70-67--275

T4. Kelly Chin                                    63-73-69-70--275

T4. Tommy Kuhl                                69-67-68-71--275

T9. Travis Vick                                  75-66-67-68--276

T9. Ricky Castillo                               69-71-70-66--276

T9. Connor Mckinney                        70-69-68-69--276

T12. Michael Thorbjornson                69-71-66-71--277

T12. Yuxin Lin                                    70-72-65-70--277

T12. Spencer Tibbs                           70-69-70-68--277

T15. Austin Greaser                          71-69-69-69--278* (came out of 7-for-2 playoff)

T15. Adrien Dumont de Chassart      68-72-69-69--278* (came out of 7-for-2 playoff) 

Did not advance

Cohen Trollio                                      74-67-65-72--278

John Marshall Butler                           70-69-69-70--278

Patrick Welch                                      72-71-65-70--278

Gordon Sargent                                   69-68-66-75--278

Ian Siebers                                           69-67-68-74--278

Frankie Capan                                    68-71-71-68--279