Renner and Naik to square off in final match at 123rd PNGA Men’s Amateur
Sunriver, Ore. – Sam Renner of Bend, Ore. and Nilay Naik of Lake Oswego, Ore. will meet in the final match of the 123rd PNGA Men’s Amateur, being held this week at Sunriver (Ore.) Resort.
The final match will be contested over 36 holes, with the morning round teeing off at 7:00am on the resort’s Woodlands course, and the afternoon round teeing off at 11:45am on the resort’s Meadows course.
Renner and Naik won their quarterfinal and semifinal matches, held this morning and afternoon on the resort’s Meadows course, to advance to the final match.
Championship Links:
Renner, the No. 22 seed, has been making quick work of his opponents during his march through the bracket, winning by margins of 4&3, 2&1, 4&3, and then 5&4 against Matthew Miyamoto (Sacramento, Calif.) in this morning’s quarterfinal match, and 6&4 against Ethan Flynn (Truckee, Calif.) in this afternoon’s semifinal match. Flynn, a rising senior at Gonzaga University, was the No. 63 seed, having made the bracket via a playoff for the final spots.
Renner, a rising senior at Washington State University, is the defending champion, having won the title last year when it was held at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash. He is attempting to accomplish a feat not seen in the modern era – win back-to-back titles in this championship. Since the championship was first held in 1899, only six players have won back-to-back titles, and none since Jim McLean did it in 1971 and 1972. The other five players include Ron Willey (1959, 1960), Harry Givan (1945 and 1946, and also 1936 and 1937), Jack Westland (who three-peated in 1938, 1939 and 1940), George Von Elm (1921 and 1922) and R.L. MacLeay (who also three-peated in 1903, 1904 and 1905).
Naik, the No. 29 seed, has been a master grinder all week, winning his matches by margins of 1-up, 2-up,1-up, 4&2 in this morning’s quarterfinal match against Walker Lamb (Bothell, Wash.), and then 1-up against Eli McNelly (Olympia, Wash.) in this afternoon’s semifinal match.
Naik played his freshman year at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., where he earned Division III All-American honorable mention. Last week, Naik transferred to the University of Michigan, where he will join their men’s golf team in the fall as a sophomore. Last month, Naik was a quarterfinalist in the Oregon Amateur, for the second year in a row. He won the 2024 Oregon Junior Amateur.
The PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship is among the 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
