Doug Ghim wins by two-strokes
(Texas Athletics Photo)
EL PASO, TX (November 21, 2017) -
Doug Ghim went low and then he went lower as he won the Sun Bowl Andeavor All-America Golf Classic at El Paso Country Club with an 18-under tally. The Texas senior closed with a second consecutive 7-under 64 to outlast 36-hole co-leader
Hurly Long of Texas Tech by two-strokes.
Ghim, ranked second in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Rankings, came out of the gates clicking on all cylinders as he birdied Nos. 2-4 to move to 14-under and take a lead that he would never relinquish. The early run was part of a 5-under 31 side that included an additional birdie on the 5th and an eagle on the par-5 9th that helped him bounce back from a 7th hole bogey.
Heading for home the reigning Big-12 Player of the Year overcame a 13th hole bogey as he continued to light up the scoreboard adding birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 17.
A member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup team, Ghim has two wins in ranking events this year, first at the Pacific Coast Amateur and most recently in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. He also was the runner-up at the U.S. Amateur.
Long tried to keep pace with Ghim and he did for a stretch finishing the front nine with three straight birdies and adding three more on Nos. 11, 13 and 15 but a bogey on the 16th dashed his chances. The native of Germany finished 16-under following rounds of 65-66-66.
Third-place was shared by Will Gordon (Vanderbilt) and Ben Griffin (North Carolina at 13-under while Dawson Armstrong (Lipscomb) was fifth at 10-under.
36-HOLE RECAP
Two players share the lead at the Sun Bowl Andeavor All-America Golf Classic after the 36-hole first day at El Paso Country Club.
Doug Ghim, a member of the University of Texas and also a key member of the winning USA Walker Cup team this summer, shot a second-round 64 to go along with a morning 67, putting him at 11-under 131.
He is tied at that number with Hurly Long of Texas Tech, who went 65-66 on the day with an amazing 12 birdies on par four holes. Long is no stranger to low numbers; earlier this fall he shot a course-record 61 at Pebble Beach en route to winning the Carmel Cup.
The leaderboard is crowded, with two other players one shot back at 10 under par. Will Gordon of Vanderbilt University shot consecutive 66s to reach double digits under par, while Ben Griffin of the University of North Carolina tied Ghim for the low round of the day with an afternoon 64 after a morning 68.
Two members of the reigning NCAA champion Oklahoma Sooners are in contention. Grant Hirschman is alone in fifth at 9 under, while Brad Dalke is tied for sixth at 7 under. Dalke shared the lead after an opening 65 but was passed by five players in the afternoon as he shot 70.
He is tied with Dawson Armstrong of Lipscomb University, with Shintaro Ban of UNLV the only other player with an outside shot of winning, five shots back at 6 under.
Kristoffer Ventura of Oklahoma State University, who won both the long drive (with a 319-yarder) and the PING putting contest on Sunday, started strong with a 67 but struggled to a 76 in the afternoon and is well back in the pack.
The final round is set for Tuesday morning. The winner of the event will put his name on a list of champions that includes Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Matt Kuchar, David Duval, Jerry Pate, Scott Simpson, Ricky Barnes, Chris Kirk and Webb Simpson.
ABOUT THE
Sun Bowl All-America Golf Classic
54 hole individual tournament for outstanding
men's college players; hosted by the Sun Bowl
Association.
View Complete Tournament Information