Fang rolls into Western Am semis

Writing from Glencoe, Illinois

Friday, August 1, 2025

It’s good to be Ethan Fang these days. Even when something goes wrong, everything comes out all right.

Take the par-5 13th hole at Skokie Country Club, which at 602 yards is harder than a tax audit. Fang hammered his drive down the left side of the fairway, as did opponent Benjamin James. Each had about 300 yards with the wind unhelpful. Fang, 3 up in the match and hitting first, reached for his driver, swung and hooked his shot into gnarly fescue to the left. The ball could not be found during or after the allotted three minutes, and Fang conceded the hole.

“That was definitely a bold play,” Fang said. “I just tied to get it up there as far as I could.”

It was also a strategically smart play. Had Fang reached the green in two – James did not with his second – an eagle 3 would have moved him 4 up with five holes to play. Instead, he still had a 2 up advantage.

Fang won the match 3 and 1 when James’ biggest gamble of the match – hitting his second to the par-4 17th from the left rough through a copse of trees and over a neighbor’s back yard – didn’t come off. It crashed into a tree, caromed left and nearly ended up in a wishing well.

That errant shot and subsequent handshake moved Fang into Saturday’s first semifinal match. The Oklahoma State junior plays Notre Dame junior Jacob Modleski of Noblesville, Ind., ranked 18th in the world, at 8 a.m. Zackary Swanwick of New Zealand, a Florida sophomore, and Jase Summy of Keller, Tex., and Oklahoma, will follow at 8:12 a.m., with the winners meeting in the 123rd Western Amateur championship match Saturday afternoon.

“I’m pretty excited,” Fang said. “Today was staying patient and hitting greens. I was hitting it good so kind of let him make the mistakes, let him try to chase me.”

Fang is chasing a unique double. Nobody has won the Western Am and the British Amateur in the same year. Only Charlie Yates, Frank Stranahan and Steve Melnyk have won both championships in a career.

“That’s good company,” Fang said.

He’d make a nice fourth, but nothing can be assumed in match play. Swanwick’s 1 up quarterfinal victory over Scotland’s Cameron Adam was accomplished by winning there holes, two with bogeys, including the last, a 5 to Adam’s double-bogey 6. Both where bunkered close to the lip off the tee on the 18th.

“Words I can’t say,” Swanwick said of his thoughts then. He hammered a wedge to the fairway, knocked his third to the front of the green and two-putted for the win. “I’ve won holes with eights and nines before, so bogey isn’t bad.”

Swanwick, 93rd in the world rankings compared to Summy’s No. 9 position, is trying to become the second Florida Gator in succession to win the title. Ian Gilligan did so last year in a title match that went 11 extra holes.

And if it comes to Swanwick and Fang in the final?

“You just do your own thing, swing your own swing,” Swanwick said. “Do what the 19 years of work’s been all about.”

– Tim Cronin

Fang seeks Western Am history

Writing from Glencoe, Illinois

Friday, August 1, 2025

Ethan Fang is on a collision course with history.

The 20-year-old won the British Amateur earlier this summer. Friday morning, he won his first match in the 123rd Western Amateur. If he goes on to win the title – three matches away – he’ll be the first player to win both prestigious titles in the same year.

Only three players have won both crowns lifetime: Charlie Yates, Frank Stranahan and Steve Melnyk. Fang, third in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, could raise that achievement to anther level.

The Oklahoma State standout dispatched Hugh Le Goff of Melun, France, 5 & 4 in the morning, the widest margin of any Round of 16 match. But he’s matched up with Benjamin James of Virginia, and Milford, Conn., in an afternoon quarterfinal.

Friday’s other Round of 16 matches:

James defeated Eric Lee of Fullerton, Calif., 4 & 2

Garrett Endicott of San Antonio, Tex., defeated Anh Minh Nguyen of Hanoi, Vietnam, 1 up

Jacob Modleski of Noblesville, Ind., defeated Max Herendeen of Bellevue, Wash., 2 up

Zackary Swanwick of Napier, New Zealand, defeated Bryan Lee of Fairfax, Va., 1 up

Cameron Adam of Edinburgh, Scotland, defeated William Sides of Tulsa, Okla., in 19 holes

Jase Summy of Keller, Tex., defeated Tommy Morrison of Dallas, 1 up. Morrison is world No. 6 in the rankings.

Taishi Moto of Yokahama, Japan, defeated Stewart Hagestad of West Palm Beach, Fla., 3 & 2/

Endicott-Modleski, Swanwick-Adam and Summy-Moto are Friday’s other quarterfinals.

– Tim Cronin

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

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

Streelman returns in style

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Kevin Streelman’s pals gave him all kinds of medical advice when he disclosed his meniscus tear in his left knee back in March.

“Oh, I was fine in three weeks,” he was told.

Streelman arched his eyebrows.

“They’re not walking seven miles five days in a row,” he said Thursday after his first round of competitive golf since he was sidelined.

That morning excursion, when the weather was only stifling, was a success, physically and mathematically. As to the latter, he scored 4-under-par 67 in the first round of the NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club. As to the former, he explained, “Goal one of this week was to just feel healthy.”

Streelman played some golf while healing – a 60 proved to him his game was intact – and also walked Chicago Golf four times last week to help prepare for the return to the grind.

“I smiled the whole way, but it is a little sore,” Streelman said. “But that’s to be expected. It was a pretty good meniscus tear on the medial side, probably 60 percent of it, so it’s a little more grindy. The priority was to feel healthy and see how the walk felt, but I’m a competitor.”

Thus, to Streelman, his highlight was making birdie on his first hole, the par-4 10th. Three more birdies mid-nine followed, a 4-under 31 start.

“Four months off, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Streelman said. “I didn’t take care of the par 5s, unfortunately. I can have a low one if I take care of these par 5s.”

But Friday will be another day – and may be delayed, given a two-hour thunderstorm delay Thursday in mid-afternoon.

It was a rare home game for Streelman, and only his third start on the Korn Ferry Tour. His last was in 2007, when it was the Nationwide Tour. The Wheaton native made the jump to the PGA Tour, where he’s made 305 cuts in 466 starts, almost at once, and he’ll be back there in the fall, a 46-year-old chasing a third Tour title. It’s the second major injury of his career.

“Both came from working out,” Streelman said. “You try to be smart with your workouts, but you see these kids and they hit it forever and you try to keep up.”

Case in point, the leader at the time of the weather delay, 26-year-old Davis Chatfield of Attleboro, Mass. The Notre Dame grad blistered the Tom Fazio-designed course with a 9-under 62 for a one-stroke lead over Cooper Dorsey and Caleb VanArragon. Julian Suri and 2024 Western Amateur winner Ian Gilligan were two strokes in arrears. They hit it far enough to need radar to track their drives rather than ShotLink.

Meanwhile, Streelman just wants to stay within reach as he regains his bearings.

“I’ll get six starts from my status in the Fall Series, and then I’ll have 15-16 starts next year on a medical exemption. I had a decent start this year, and those points will all count to my grand total. If I get enough points next year, I’ll jump right back into my status out there.”

“Out there” is where Streelman has been almost since graduating from Duke in 2001, which is a feat in itself.

“If not, I’ll be 47 next year and be home with my family, and I’ll do a few of these to get ready for Champions. But I’m confident of getting out there (on the regular tour). I stay in good shape and hit it far enough out there.”

And he knows how to chip and putt.

– Tim Cronin