Stacked Leaderboard Promises Dramatic Final Round At 49th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship
Second round leader Will Zalatoris of Plano, Texas and Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis, California share the lead at four-under-par; Medford, Oregon’s Dylan Wu sitting at tied for twelfth as low Oregonian
PACIFIC COAST GOLF ASSOCIATION (Eugene, OR) – The final round of the 49th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship promises to be historic as Will Zalatoris of Plano, Texas and Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis, California share the lead.
Beginning the day sitting one stroke clear of DeChambeau was the 2014 USGA Junior Boys’ champion Zalatoris. Nearly five hours and a number of bottles of water later, a 69 by Zalatoris put he and DeChambeau deadlocked at four-under-par.
Zalatoris had a fairly subtle round of golf, carding three birdies and two bogey’s en route to the one-under 69. His three-day line of 70-67-69 (206) shows a level of consistency that one would expect from the standout golfer representing Wake Forest.
Asked about how he feels heading into the final round paired with DeChambeau, the reigning NCAA individual champion and Portola Valley, California’s Maverick McNealy, the 2015 Haskins Award winner as the NCAA’s top collegiate golfer, Zalatoris was poised for day four.
“I’m excited. To finally get back into contention, especially with the two guys who are pretty much locks for the Walker Cup, it will be fun tomorrow,” stated Zalatoris.
The Walker Cup is a biennial team competition between the United States and Great Britain/Ireland of which the team is comprised of some of America’s best amateur golfers. For the majority of the first three rounds of competition, the captain of the American Walker Cup contingent, Spider Miller, was in attendance at Eugene.
Clawing his way around Eugene Country Club’s punishing greens and sloped fairways was DeChambeau. After opening with a respectable even-par 70, he has now posted back-to-back 68’s to get even with Zalatoris and a spot in tomorrow’s final pairing.
“It’s another chance to win a great golf event and I haven’t been in this position since Nationals,” mentioned the Souther Methodist University Mustang.
“I am looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.”
Not to be outdone today was soon-to-be Junior at Stanford University Maverick McNealy. McNealy, who came into the week as an odds-on favorite to take the Dr. Ed Updegraff trophy as individual champion, carded the Championship’s best round through three rounds at five-under-par 65. His three day line of 70-72-65-207 (-3) has availed him the opportunity to start his final round with the leaders in close check and hopefully build off his momentum he made from today.
“I was very happy with how I played today. I changed my strategy off the tee, hitting a lot more 3-woods and I was hitting that really straight,” stated McNealy.
“A little bit more spin on the ball helped me hold more fairways out there and was a key to my success today.”
McNealy carded six birdies and a single bogey on his final hole, lipping out a par putt from eight feet for the flawless scorecard.
Asked about tomorrow and how he would game plan catching Zalatoris and DeChambeau, McNealy made reference to an adage that many have heard but only the truly successful can master.
“There is a lot of golf left. A lot can happen in 18 holes so I will have to just take it one shot at a time. I hope to get off to a good start and be in contention to win with nine holes left to play tomorrow. It will be a good day of golf.”
Rounding out the golfers sitting under-par for the Championship is Lake Elsinore, California’s Aaron Wise, a member of the University of Oregon Ducks. Wise has posted rounds of 69-71-68-208 (-2) at the very familiar par-70, 6975-yard Eugene layout to sit in solo fourth. The University of Oregon Men’s Golf players practice at Eugene throughout their season.
Defending champion Corey Pereira of Cameron Park, California is five-strokes back of the leaders after rounds of 72-69-79-211 (+1), holding 6th place by himself.
The closest Oregonian to the leaders is Dylan Wu of Medford. After making an ace yesterday on the par-3 12th hole, Wu continued his strong play with a third round 69, good enough for +3, T12th (73-71-69-213).
Play in the Championship wraps up with the final round teeing off tomorrow, starting at 7:00am, with the leaders off at 9:10am. Spectators and Media are welcomed and encouraged to attend. Admission is free of charge.
Held on an annual basis since 1967, with roots dating back to 1901, the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship boasts a rich history of showcasing some of the most talented golfers in the United States, Canada and beyond.
For more information on the Championship, visit www.pacificcoastamateur.com .
For a full listing of scores, click here
For a photo of the leaders, please click here
Follow along with this years’ Championship on social media using Twitter handle @pacificcoastam , Instagram @pacificcoastam and Facebook /pacificcoastamateur using the official hashtags #PACCoast and #EugeneCC
ABOUT THE PACIFIC COAST AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Although its present history only dates from 1967, the Pacific Coast Amateur
Championship’s roots make it one of the oldest amateur golf championships in American history. The first tournament was held on the links of San Francisco Golf Club at The Presidio, April 24-27, 1901. Championships were held annually through 1911, all being conducted in California except for the 1909 championship, which was held at Seattle Golf Club in Washington. The Pacific Coast Amateur then ceased to exist, only to be reconstituted at Seattle Golf Club on August 10-12, 1967 with the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Southern California, Oregon and Arizona golf associations participating. Today, 15 member Pacific Rim golf associations comprise the Pacific Coast Golf Association.
