Ghim and bear it: He's the medalist

    Writing from Chicago
    Thursday, July 31, 2014

    Doug Ghim all but admitted it.
    He took the morning off, which is why and how he scored 2-over 73 in the third round of the 112th Western Amateur.
    But there was an extenuating circumstance: The course-record 63 the 18-year-old Arlington Heights standout chalked up at Beverly Country Club the day before.
    “I never quite got acclimated in the morning,” Ghim said. “The 63 put pressure on me.”
    Apparently, the 73 took the pressure off, for Ghim, who went from leader to pursuer, fired a 6-under-par 65 in the afternoon round, with birdies on the first two holes and an eagle on the seventh to light the way. That resounding rebound, punctuated by a two-putt birdie at the last, brought Ghim the stroke play victory at 14-under-par 270, an honor which will mean only that he’s the biggest target when match play commences and he, as the top seed, shakes hands with 16th-seeded Matt Hansen on the first tee at 7:30 on Friday morning.
    Hansen advanced with a 25-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. He, Nicholas Echavarria and Adam Schenk tied for 16th at 5-under 279, all three scoring even-par 71 in their final round to force extra holes. The trio parred the par-3 10th, and that took them to the par-4 16th, where all three hit the green in two, and Hansen found the cup first.
    Ghim’s closing 65 came with him paired with third-round leader Bryson DeChambeau, who stood at 11-under 202, a stroke ahead of Joshua Mann. Ghim was tied for third, three strokes in arrears.
    Not for long. A few encouraging words from his sister at lunch buoyed the incoming Texas freshman, and he went to the first tee with vigor.
    “It was right off the bat,” Ghim said. “Birdied the first hole and on No. 2, I had a tough 6-footer for birdie. I had it going.”
    Golf’s a funny game that way. But when Ghim’s going, look out. DeChambeau opened bogey-bogey, and the four-stroke swing, coupled with Mann parring every hole on the front nine, put Ghim back in control. His big drive and equally stout second left him about 12 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh. It might as well have been a gimme, so confidently did he stroke it home.
    “I got to the point I felt confident the rest of the round,” Ghim said. “Honestly, I was a little bit irked with my play in the morning. There were a couple of annoyances.”
    Such as bogeys on the 15th and 17th, for instance. But he birdied the 18th – as he has in every round – and was on his merry way after lunch. Only a double-bogey on the par-4 15th scarred his card.
    Nine-under on the par-5s this week, he wanted to be 10-under with an eagle on the par-5 18th. It was possible after his 350-yard drive on the 599-yard hole, but his 240-yard 4-iron went a hair too far.
    “I wanted it to come up on the collar,” Ghim said. “Past the pin on that hole is not a good spot, and I was 20 feet past the pin. But it wasn’t too stressful.”
    He looked at the scoreboard to see where he stood, and calmly two-putted for birdie.
    The collegiate influence has been strong in top-level amateur golf since World War II, and  nothing this week is different. Three Illinois players (Brian Campbell, Charlie Danielson and inclming Nick Hardy) and three Texas Longhorns (Beau Hossler, Scottie Scheffler and the incoming Ghim) are in the Sweet Sixteen. There are no Fighting Illini-Longhorn matchups in the first round, and probably no favorites, either.
    “Match play is a game of circumstance,” Ghim said. “My match against (Jordan) Niebrugge at the Publinx is a great reminder of that.”
    Ghim needed 23 holes and a 10-footer for par to knock off Niebrugge in the round of 16 at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kan. He made it all the way to the championship match.
    “If I stick to my game plan, I’ll be fine,” Ghim said.
    Niebrugge was in the mix for a Sweet Sixteen berth at lunch but shot 3-over 74 in the afternoon to miss the playoff by three strokes. Other notables going home include Frankfort’s Brian Bullington, China’s Zecheng Dou and Tianlang Guan, 32-year-old Andrew Price of Lake Bluff, and 51-year-old Michael McCoy, who needed a final-round 68 to make the playoff and posted a 78 instead.
    The qualifying score of 279 matched the low set at Point O’Woods Golf and Country Club in 2004.

    The first round matches for Friday morning:

    7:30 – Doug Ghim (270), Arlington Heights, vs. Matt Hansen (279), Los Osos, Calif.
    7:45 – Cheng-Tsung Pan (276), Miaoli Country, Taiwan, vs. Beau Hossler (276), Mission Viejo, Calif.
    8:00 – Taylor Macdonald (274), Brisbane, Australia, vs. Scottie Scheffler (278), Dallas
    8:15 – Geoff Drakeford (274), Traralgon South, Australia, vs. Nick Hardy (278), Northbrook
    8:30 – Joshua Mann (272), Palmerston North, New Zealand, vs. Brian Campbell (278), Irvine, Calif.
    8:45 – Cory Crawford (276), Sanctuary Cove, Australia, vs. Lucas Herbert (276), Ravenswood, Australia
    9:00 – Bryson DeChambeau (272), Clovis, Calif., vs. Xander Schauffele (278), San Diego
    9:15 – Hunter Stewart (275), Nicholasville, Ky., vs. Charlie Danielson (277), Osceola, Wis.

    Only two of the 16, Pan and Hossler, have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before, and they’re matched against each other in the Round of 16.

    – Tim Cronin