Harrison Crowe, a 21-year-old amateur golfer from Sydney, Australia’s beaches, had a hectic Sunday morning.
Where do we begin? Was it when, after a wobbly three-over front, he recovered to shoot three-under on the back nine at the devilishly thorny Amata Spring Golf Club in Chon Buri, Thailand? Or perhaps when he claimed victory at this weekend’s most important golf event, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship? Or should we concentrate on Crowe’s amateur career, which was extended by his triumph by at least an additional eight months?
No, we should begin at the end because it is what brought about this whole thing.
The end: Harrison Crowe won the Asia-Pacific Amateur on Sunday, punching his ticket to the Masters and the Open Championship as well as his own little piece of golf mythology.
With his triumph at the Asia-Pacific Amateur, Crowe joins a small but distinguished group of champions that also includes Keita Nakajima from last year and Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time APA champion. Just 13 years ago, the tournament was founded in an effort to grow the amateur game throughout Asia and the South Pacific. Augusta National and the R&A are the event’s “founding partners.” The winner of the competition is assured entry into both the Masters and Open Championship each year in an effort to draw participants.
After winning, Crowe remarked, “It’s going to be pretty surreal when I wake up in the morning.” “Knowing I’m playing the Masters and the Open Championship.”
Perhaps absurd, but not undeserved. On Sunday afternoon in Thailand, Crowe, the tournament’s 54-hole leader, took the trophy home on his own. His 13-under total includes brave par saves on the island-green 13th and 18th holes as well as a run of four birdies in five holes. He finished one shot ahead of China’s Bo Jin.
“I certainly had to dig deep,” Crowe said. “At the turn, I kind of told my dad and his mate, that I just needed one to go in, just one to drop, and from there, I backed myself to keep it going. I had not had a birdie all day, and the one on 11th got my momentum going forward.”
The triumph and, consequently, Crowe’s plans for the second week of next April were assured thanks to a magnificent up-and-down on the 18th green, where he continued to build momentum. Not bad for an October Sunday.
“It means so much,” Crowe said. “I came out here this week with something to prove, and I’m just really proud of myself the way I handled myself on and off the course.”
Original article posted on Golf.com
Photo Credit: golfaustralia.com
