DU's Funk Qualifies for Match Play at U.S. Amateur
DU Sports Information
TULSA, Okla. - Drury junior golfer Andrew Funk fired a 4-over-par 74 on Tuesday at Cedar Ridge Country Club to advance through the stroke-play qualifying and make the 64-player match play field in the 109th U.S. Amateur Golf Championship.
Funk's 74 at Cedar Ridge, combined with his 1-over-par 71 at the famed Southern Hills Country Club on Monday, gave him a 145 total that tied the Canadian for 20th place in the field of 312 golfers who began the stroke-play portion of the meet.
As a result, Funk - in his first attempt in the U.S. Amateur - will move on to match play Wednesday at Southern Hills against an opponent still to be determined as of late Wednesday evening, as the event was holding a 27-man playoff of players with 148 totals for the final three spots in the match-play field.
After Wednesday's 18-hole match in the round of 64, the format calls for the 18-hole second and third rounds on Thursday, the 18-hole quarterfinals on Friday, the 18-hole semifinals on Saturday and the 36-hole championship match on Sunday, all at Southern Hills.
Funk, starting on the back nine Tuesday at Cedar Ridge, opened his round with seven straight pars before hitting a stretch of five consecutive bogeys on holes 17, 18, 1, 2 and 3. But before the wheels could come off, Funk bounced back with birdies at holes 4 (on a 35-foot putt) and 5 (a two-putt birdie on the par-5) to regain momentum, aided by a mental boost from his caddy - girlfriend and Drury University women's golfer Marissa Hill.
"It looks like it on the scorecard, but I really wasn't hitting it that badly in that (bogey) stretch," said the native of Edmonton, Alberta. "Marissa was a big help ... after (the five bogeys), she said 'Andrew, you've got to get it going ... you're better than that.' I was a little down on myself, and she helped pick me back up."
He bogeyed the par-3 6th, but then parred the final three holes to finish the round, knowing that something in the 145 to 147 range would likely get him safely into match play - his first venture into the format in at least a couple of years.
"I like match play because I like the strategy involved," Funk says.
The action will be televised Wednesday through Friday on The Golf Channel before switching to NBC for coverage on Saturday and Sunday's 36-hole championship final.
Tickets are available for $15 per day at the gate. Fans can follow the live scoring at www.usamateur.org.