- USGA photos
By Ron Balicki
RICHMOND, Texas (Sept. 21, 2011)
– Nathan Smith’s amazing run in
the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship finally
came to an end Wednesday in the semifinals.
In spite of a gutsy run at the end, Smith
was eliminated – for the first time since
2008 – by Randall Lewis in 19 holes at
Shadow Hawk Golf Club.
Lewis will take on Kenny Cook, a 6-and-5 winner
over John Engler, in Thursday’s 36-hole
final as the 54-year old tries to become this
event’s oldest champion. George
Zahringer was 49 when he won the title in
2002.
Smith, 33, a financial adviser from
Pittsburgh, was seeking to make U.S. Mid-
Amateur history by winning his third
consecutive title and fourth overall in this
national tournament for players 25 years and
older. His loss to Lewis, also a financial adviser
from Alma, Mich., ended his record streak of 16
consecutive matches won.
“That is it. That’s all she
wrote,” said a tired Smith after the
match. “It was a great run and a fun
couple of years (as champion) and a fun
couple of weeks (referring to the Walker Cup
the week before). I wish I could have finished
it off this week, but I just ran out of
gas.”
Cook, 31, an accountant for
the Department of Defense from Noblesville,
Ind., took the easier road to the final when he
jumped out to an early lead and cruised past
Engler, 32, of Augusta, Ga.
Cook has now played 80 holes
in his five matches and has trailed only once
– on the first hole of his Round of 16
match.
He was in total control in the semifinals,
winning Nos. 2 and 4 with birdies, No. 7 with a
par and the eighth with a birdie to go 4 up. A
par at the 10th put him 5 up, and he closed
things out with a birdie at No. 13.
“Obviously, I played very well. I kept
putting myself in position to make shots and
kept giving myself birdie opportunities,”
said Cook, who is playing in just his second
U.S. Mid-Amateur. “I’ve felt
comfortable all week and have been able to hit
quality shots off the tee and to the
green.”
For the most part, Cook is an unknown within golf
circles, even within his home state of Indiana.
He doesn’t even compete in state
amateurs or opens, playing in a few four-ball
competitions.
“I work 40 hours a week and really
don’t get to play that much,” Cook said. “Financially
and time wise, I just can’t get out and
play (in competition) very often. But
I’ve been playing golf since I was 6 and
did well in college (Ball State, Class of 2003),
so from my standpoint, I feel I can play some
pretty good golf. I’ve won some things,
but let’s face it, no one knows who
Kenny Cook is.”
That is probably changing, and will
definitely change should he manage to beat
Lewis in the final and claim the
champion’s Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial
Trophy, not to mention getting the likely
winner’s invitation to next year’s
Masters.
But his road won’t be easy, as
Lewis has proven to be one gutsy performer.
He certainly showed that Wednesday when he
took down this year’s qualifying
medalist and No. 1 seed Mike McCaffrey in the
quarterfinals, 3 and 1, and then held off
Smith’s late charge.
Lewis quickly went 2 up when he won the
third hole with a par and fourth with a birdie.
Smith got one back with a par at the fifth, but
Lewis birdied No. 9 to make the turn, 2 up.
Smith won the 11th, Lewis the 12th and
Smith the 15th. Lewis was 1 up going to the
par-5 18th, but Smith drained an 18-foot putt
for eagle to send the match back to No. 1,
also a par 5.
Smith, after a tee shot in the right rough,
hit his 135-yard approach shot to 30 feet while
Lewis, from 60 yards out, hit a lob wedge shot
to within 4 feet. After Smith just missed his
birdie attempt, Lewis knocked in his putt for
the win.
“Nathan is a very good player, and I
knew I had to do something special to beat
him,” Lewis said. “It didn’t
surprise me when he holed that putt for eagle
at 18. This was just one heck of a match. I
got pretty tired out there and didn’t hit
every shot solid, but obviously I’m
pleased to be going to the final (match)
again.”
Lewis advanced to the title match at the
1996 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Hartford Golf Club in
West Hartford, Conn. Interesting enough, he
lost that to another player from Indiana, John
“Spider” Miller, who won the
then-18-hole final, 3 and 2.
Lewis also was a semifinalist in 1999 at Old
Warson Golf Club in St. Louis, where he lost to
Jerry Courville, 1 up, in what he says
“was one of the best matches
I’ve ever played.”
Now he has a chance to go all the way
and knows it may very well be his final
opportunity at the pre-senior amateur level.
“I know it is so hard to get to a
USGA final, and especially in something like this
at my age,” Lewis said. “I realize
this is probably my last chance. Heck,
I’m anxious to turn 55 (May 2012) and
start playing senior golf.”
With a victory Thursday, Lewis will have
more to think about than what senior events
he might be entering. He would have one
where he would not only be taking on the
young guys, but they would be the best in the
world at the Masters.
“I learned from the last time (1996)
to not start thinking about that,” he
said. “What I need to do is concentrate
on what I have to do in that match, stay
patient, and keep playing like I’ve been
playing all week. If I can do that, everything
else will take care of itself.”