North & South Amateur: Vick wins playoff for medalist honors
Travis Vick (USGA photo)
Texas’
Travis Vick played near-perfect golf through two days at the North & South Amateur.
“I didn’t make a bogey for 35 holes,” Vick told Pinehurst, “and then I messed up 18.”
The bogey on the 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2 gave the rising Longhorn sophomore a little taste of what’s to come over what he hopes is the next three days.
Carding a 68, Vick found himself in a three-man playoff against Illinois State’s
David Perkins and North Carolina signee
Peter Fountain. After three holes, Vick sank a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th on No. 2 to claim medalist honors and grab the 1-seed for the match-play portion of the event which begins Wednesday.
“Now it’s just face the next guy,” Vick said. “Everybody out here who has played a lot of match play knows anybody can get hot, that anybody can play well for 18 holes.”
Matthew Sharpstene
Overnight leader
Matthew Sharpstene could not follow up his course record-setting 64 he posted Monday at Pinehurst No. 4. Sharpstene bested the previous course record at No. 4 which was previously held by Brandon Wu and Karl Vilips who set the pace at last year's U.S. Amateur Championship. Sharpstene finished in a tie for 17th and is the 22-seed.
Related: Sharpstene sets course record on day 1 of North & South Am
As for the ‘next guy’, Vick is set to face off against Florida signee
Tyler Wilkes. Wilkes was an AJGA standout with a win at Saddlebrook last May, a runner-up finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Junior, and a T-3 finish at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in March.
Making room next to his 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur medal, Vick looks to become the first player to win both medalist honors and the match play championship since 2012 when
Peter Williamson took home both pieces of hardware.
ABOUT THE
North & South Amateur
The North & South Amateur Championship is the
longest consecutively run amateur tournament in
the
United States. Its past winners list includes names
like
Walter
Travis, Francis Ouimet, Billy Joe Patton, Jack
Nicklaus
and Curtis Strange. The field is made up of invited
players as well as open applications. Two rounds of
stroke
play are followed by five rounds of match play
(32
qualifiers) to determine the Champion. All stroke
& match play rounds are contested on
Pinehurst No. 2.
View Complete Tournament Information