RUMFORD, RHODE ISLAND |
Joseph
Bramlett recorded the biggest amateur
win of his career, calmly rolling in an
eight-foot birdie putt on the final hole to
win the 49th Northeast Amateur
Invitational Sunday.
Bramlett closed with a 2-under-par
67 and a 6-under 270 total on the par-
69 Wannamoisett Country Club to edge
Brad Benjamin by two strokes.
Benjamin, who shot 66 Sunday, bird-
ied the final hole an hour before Bram-
lett finished to get to 4 under. At that
moment, Bramlett was 5 under with
three holes to play. Bramlett navigated
those finishing holes in 1-under par
to join a storied list of past Northeast
Amateur champions that include Scott
Hoch, David Duval, John Cook, Anthony
Kim, Luke Donald and Dustin Johnson .
and found himself tied for the lead with
Mike Ballo heading into the final round.
Paired together Sunday, there was
some jockeying back and forth before
Bramlett birdied the sixth and took
control of the tournament. He would add
three birdies on the back nine.
Bramlett, who recently graduated
from Stanford, had an injury-plagued
collegiate career. The youngest player
to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at age
14, Bramlett was an All-American as
a freshman and his Cardinal team won
the 2007 NCAA Championship.
Two different injuries to the same
wrist would cost him 20 months on the
sidelines over the next two-and-a-half
years. He only returned to full health in
January, and was all Pac- 10 Honorable
Mention and a U.S. Open qualifier.
He will play the amateur circuit for
the rest of the summer, attempt to
qualify for the U.S. Amateur, and then
turn professional.
A 22-year-old Northern California
native, Bramlett said his U.S. Open
experience was an “eye-opener” that
helped him win this tournament. He felt
good about his game coming in, but had
not yet gotten the results he expected.
His win here capped what he described
as “a long couple of years.”
First- and second-round leader
Benjamin, the 2009 U.S. Publinx
champion, finished the tournament
birdie-par-birdie and thought he might
have atoned for his recent final-round
collapse at the Sunnehanna Amateur
two weeks ago. He needed help from
Bramlett, but it never arrived.
Ballo, a recent St. John’s University
grad, posted three bogeys against a
lone birdie. He closed with a 71 and
finished third at 2-under 274.
Two other Stanford men, Sihwan
Kim and Andrew Yun, finished T4 with
Georgia’s Hudson Swafford at 1-under
275. Only six players broke par.
Local favorite Charlie Blanchard, the
perennial Wannamoisett club champion
and New England area amateur stal-
wart, began the final day T5 and in the
mix. A birdie-less final-round 76 caused
him to fall back to T18 at 6-over-par 282.
Northeast Am Notes:
Bramlett got
two practice rounds in with Tiger Woods
at the U.S. Open. They were set up by
his coach, Conrad Ray, who was one
of Woods’ teammates at Stanford ...
Bramlett joins Notah Begay as Stanford
players who have won at Wannamoisett
... British Amateur champion Jin Jeong
withdrew at the last minute, citing the
spoils of that victory. His win at Muir-
field earned him a spot in both the
Scottish Open and the Open Champion-
ship, so he elected to remain in the U.K.
… Curtis Thompson won the traditional
Friday night long-drive contest with a
340-yard poke. Patrick Reed finished
second, one yard behind … Peter
Uihlein, ranked No. 2 in the World Ama-
teur Golf Ranking, told the
Providence
Journal
that he has no plans to turn pro
anytime soon and expects to finish four
years at Oklahoma State … In the battle
of the McCoys, young Nate, a junior at
Iowa State, clipped dad Mike by five
shots, 291 to 296 … Jake Katz aced the
196 yard 15th hole with a 5-iron in the
first round … Todd White, who recently
won his third South Carolina State
Match Play, took low mid-amateur
honors.
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