Western Am: Class comes to the fore

Writing from Glencoe, Illinois

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Pedigree in golf most often shows itself on the amateur side. In the professional ranks, anyone can win in a given week. Among the amateurs, form more often shows itself.

So it was Thursday at Skokie Country Club, where the 36-hole double round of stroke play – and the near-inevitable playoff – determined the 16 qualifiers for match play, which commences Friday morning.

Among those survivors were co-medalist Ethan Fang, the third-ranked player in world amateur golf, Benjamin James, the current No. 2 on the planetary list, and Tommy Morrison, who ranks No. 6. James, a Virginia senior from Milford, Conn., had the best afternoon round, a 3-under 67, crafted on a day when the wind blew, the greens began to dry out, and the pin placements were testing. He stood at 2-under 278 at the final reckoning, safely in.

Fang’s rounds of 68-69 helped him to a 72-hole aggregate of 5-under 275, the highest total for a medalist in five years. An Oklahoma State student who won this year’s British Amateur, Fang shared the distinction of medalist with Zackary Swanwick of Napier, New Zealand, who strolled around Skokie on Thursday in rounds of 67 and 70.

On the flip side, even setting a course record guarantees nothing. Tyler Watts, the 17-year-old high schooler from Alabama who set Skokie members’ tongues clucking with his opening round 62, 8-under for the Western’s par of 70 and a stroke better than any other round in the 127-year history of the club, was eliminated on the fourth hole of a seven-for-six sudden-death playoff when he parred and the other three still in the fight birdied. A double-bogey on the par-3 16th dropped him into the playoff.

Friday’s Round of 16 Matches

8 a.m. – Ethan Fang (275), Plano, Tex., vs. Hugo Le Goff (279*), Melun, France

8:12 a.m. – Benjamin James (278), Milford, Conn., vs. Eric Lee (278), Fullerton, Calif.

8:24 a.m. – Garrett Endicott (277), San Antonio, Tex., vs. Anh Minh Nguyen (279*), Hanoi, Vietnam

8:36 a.m. – Max Herendeen (277), Bellevue, Wash., vs. Jacob Modleski (279*), Noblesville, Ind.

8:48 a.m. – Zackary Swanwick (275), Napier, New Zealand, vs. Bryan Lee (279*), Fairfax, Va.

9 a.m. – Cameron Adam (278), Edinburgh, Scotland, vs. William Sides (278), Tulsa, Okla.

9:12 a.m. – Tommy Morrison (277), Dallas, Tex., vs. Jase Summy (279*), Keller, Tex.

9:24 a.m. – Stewart Hagestad (278), West Palm Beach, Fla., vs. Taishi Moto (279*), Yokohama, Japan

* – advanced in playoff.

Around Skokie

Among those missing the match play madness: NHL referee Garrett Rank, whose four rounds totaling even-par 280 left him a stroke out of the playoff, Auburn’s Josiah Gilbert, whose double of the par-4 17th dropped him from 1-under to 1-over and down the road, and Carter Loflin of Duluth, Ga., a Georgia Bulldog who closed with four straight 5s, 5-over for the quartet and moving him from a tie for third to a tie for 23rd. … Friday and Saturday play will be streamed live on ESPN+, with former Western Am winner Steve Scott the on-course commentator. … The field averaged 71.86 strokes for the four rounds.

– Tim Cronin