The Western Am question: Watts up?

Writing from Glencoe, Illinois

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Tyler Watts woke up Wednesday morning the leader in the 123rd Western Amateur thanks to shooting a course record the day before, and went to sleep tied for third. That will have to do for the nonce.

Watts, a 17-year-old from Huntsville, Ala., who will go to Tennessee beginning next fall, is wise beyond his years. He knows that in the Western Am, the idea is to get to match play.

That’s accomplished by first, making the 36-hole cut to the low 44 and ties, and second, surviving the 72-hole cut to the Sweet Sixteen after Thursday’s 36-hole marathon.

With a 36-hole aggregate of 6-under-par 134 at Skokie Country Club, he’s halfway home. 

His opening 62, 8 under the championship’s strict par of 70 on the 7,181-yard course, put asunder the previous mark of 63, established by John Pak in the 2017 Western Amateur. That festival of eight birdies was not duplicated on Wednesday, but nor did it need to be. A 2-over 72 concocted through intermittent showers didn’t hurt at all, though Watts wanted better than that. He’s a stroke behind the 7-under 133 totals of co-leaders William Sides of Tulsa, Okla., and Wells Williams of West Point, Miss., entering Thursday’s double round derby.

“I just went through my normal warm-up routine,” said Watts, who appears yet to have faced off with a razor, of Wednesday’s plan. “We had some weather that made it hard to get off and running. And I made some pretty dumb mistakes I feel I should not have made, mental errors, not being disciplined with approach shots.”

But, thanks to the nature of the Western Am, no harm done. With 16 places on offer, Thursday’s double-round is for position.

“I want to play some solid golf all day, especially in the afternoon, and maybe pack extra snacks, little things like that, because it’s going to be a long day.”

Watts is joined at 134 by Josiah Gilbert, who registers from Millbrook, Ala., and will be a junior at Auburn. His accent indicates he’s not a native of the south, but points to Queensland, Australia. That locale in part explains a game built for the wind, which acted up in his final hour of play, and a bulky frame that is ready for Australian football. He, too, understands the mission to make the match-play portion of the competition.

“The best way to look at it is to try and win, because if you fall a little bit short, you’ll probably be in the Sweet Sixteen anyway,” Gilbert said. “Maintaining that win mentality – it would be great to come out with the stroke play championship.”

One trophy at a time.

Around Skokie

The international nature of golf is on display at Skokie, not only in the flags of 23 countries adjacent to the putting green but the leader board, which includes Nguyen Anh Minh, from that renowned golf center, Hanoi. He’s at 5-under 135. Fellow Vietnamese Hung Khanh Le of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon to a previous generation, missed the cut. … Career amateur Garrett Rank of Ontario, an NHL referee, is the only former champion to make the cut. … Scores ranged up to 27-over 167, that bloated total signed for by Chicagoan Peter Slaven. … The cut fell at even-par 140 and encompassed 51 players. It includes John Daly II, who like his father hits the ball out of sight.

– Tim Cronin