Christopher Wheeler wins Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play
Courtesy of Texas Golf Association
Chris Wheeler (Addison, Tex.) jumped on
Andrew Lawson early in the finals of the Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship and never let up, cruising to a 6 and 4 victory at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
Wheeler, the 2019 Texas Golf Association Player of the year, got out the gates quickly by winning the first two holes of the match. With Lawson on the ropes, Wheeler increased his lead to 4-up by taking holes 5 and 6. Lawson got one back with a won on hole No. 7 but gave it right back when he dropped the eighth hole.
With a commanding 4-up lead heading to the back nine, Wheeler won holes 10 and 12 before eventually closing out the match on the 14th hole, claiming a 6 and 4 victory. It was the third time Wheeler closed out an opponent on the 14th hole during his title march.
It was the second Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play title for the 38-year old Wheeler, who also won the event in 2019.
Wheeler's road to to the championship as the No. 1 seed included a 5 and 4 victory over John Derrick in the quarterfinals and a hard-fought 23-hole win over No. 5 seed Coy Breen in the semifinals. Lawson, the No. 10 seed, went through Gary Ezmerlian and two-time champion Colby Harwell to reach the finals.
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ABOUT THE
Texas Mid-Am Match Play
Eligibility: Entries are open to male amateur golfers
with a GHIN handicap index of 5.4 or less, and who
are 25 years of age or older as of the first round of
the Championship.
Format/Field Size: Scheduled for 18 holes of stroke
play qualifying on Thursday. The low 32 players
advance to match play beginning on Friday. Round of
32 and 16 played on Friday, Quarter and Semifinal
matches played on Saturday, and Final match on
Sunday morning. The field is limited to 84 players.
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