Olesen Wins The Amateur Championship
Donegal, Ireland – Razorback All-American Jacob Skov Olesen defeated England’s Dominic Clemons, 4&3, to win The Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Club. Olesen, the first Dane to make The Amateur Championship final, secures exemptions into The Open and the US Open, and by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament.
He will be the second Razorback to play in The Open Championship in as many years as Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira earned an exemption last year by virtue of winning the Latin America Amateur Championship.
Olesen, the 129th champion dating back to 1885, pulled away on the front nine of the afternoon session. First, he nearly holed out for eagle on the 21st hole (hole 3 of the afternoon session). He then made a long putt for birdie on the 23rd hole to go 6-Up.
Olesen and Clemons tied the first two holes with pars before Clemons won the 3rd hole with a birdie. Olesen squared the match with a par on the 4th hole and won holes 5 and 6 to go up two, a lead he would not relinquish the rest of the match. Olesen went up three by winning holes 8, 12 and 15. Clemons won hole 16 to cut his deficit to two and the pair tied holes 17 and 18 to give Olesen a 2-Up lead after 18 holes.
In the afternoon session, Olesen won holes 20, 21 and 23 to take a 6-Up lead. The score bounced back and forth between 6-Up and 5-Up over the next four holes. Clemons then won holes 27 and 28 to trim his deficit to four with eight to play. Olesen won the 12th with a par and they tied the 13th hole to put Olesen 5-Up with six hole to play. Clemons won the 30th hole with a birdie on the par-3, 14th. However, leading by four with four play, Olesen only needed to tie the 33rd hole, which he did with a par, to become the champion.
Olesen’s Road to the Championship
STROKE PLAY
T21 70-74=144 (+1)
MATCH PLAY
Round of 32 def. Hugo Thyr 4&3
Round of 16 def. Tomi Dowen 3&2
Round of 8 def. Tom Osborne 20 Holes
Quarterfinal def. Scott Calum 1-UP
Semifinal def. Luke Sample 3&1
Final def. Dominic Clemons 4&3
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