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 Conor McMahon qualified for Match Play at the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship on Wednesday. |
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Golf's Conor McMahon Advances to Match Play at U.S. Public Links Championship
July 11, 2007
WHEATON, IL - George Washington's Conor McMahon (Portsmouth, RI) carded a 6-over-par 150 through two rounds of stroke-play qualifying on Wednesday to advance to the Match Play portion of the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship (U.S. APL) being held at Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton, IL. McMahon tied for 43rd and is one of 64 players, out of a qualifying field of 152, to advance to the knockout stage of the USGA Championship.
McMahon opened with a 4-over-par 76 on Monday and completed a round of 74 on Wednesday morning after play was suspended due to rain on Tuesday. McMahon is the second GW golfer under 13-year head coach Scott Allen to reach Match Play at the U.S. APL after Brian Carrol ('06) placed eighth during stroke-play qualifying last summer. The winner of the 82nd annual tournament receives an invitation to play in the 2008 Masters.
McMahon lost 1-up to Penn State's Robert Rohanna, who fired a 146 in stroke-play qualifying, in the first round of Match Play late Wednesday. For news and live scoring from the event, please visit www.usapl.org.
The rising senior earned the second of three spots by shooting 144 at Red Tail Golf Club in Devins, MA. This will make the second consecutive year that McMahon has earned a spot in a USGA Championship. He qualified for the U.S. Amateur last year at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, MN.
McMahon, who transferred to GW from Eckerd College in Florida, competed in 12 tournaments during the 2006-07 season. He placed among the top 10 in two tournaments and has three top-20 finishes as well. His 76.5 stroke average over 24 rounds was third-lowest on the squad. He shot a season-low round of 70 in the first round of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Championship on May 4 at Winter Garden, FL, en route to a tie for 13th place among 60 individuals.
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This makes four consecutive years, and five of the last seven, that a Colonials golfer has qualified for the U.S. APL. Brian Carroll ('06) played in the event in 2005 and 2006. Fellow GW senior Tim Johnson (Marblehead, MA) qualified in 2004 and Ryan Day ('01) qualified for the 2001 U.S. APL.
The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship began in 1922, giving exposure to many public-course players who otherwise might not have an opportunity to compete in a national championship. The championship's prime mover was James D. Standish Jr., of Detroit, who convinced his colleagues on the 1922 USGA Executive Committee that the time was right for such a grass-roots competition. Standish pointed to the public-course golfer, whose ranks were swelling following World War I, and to the growing number of municipal and daily-fee courses in America. The second-ever U.S. APL took place at one of GW's home courses, East Potomac Park in southwest Washington, DC. From the initial entry of 140 players, today's annual entry has surged to a massive 6,000 competitors or more. The championship continues to attract bus drivers, bartenders, firemen, waiters, riveters, engineers, and college professors. It also has been a springboard for the likes of U.S. Open champions Ed Furgol, Tommy Bolt, and Ken Venturi; British Open champion Tony Lema; PGA champions Dave Marr and Bobby Nichols; and Masters winner George Archer. In 1959, it produced the first African-American winner of a USGA championship in William A. Wright, who later became a teacher. More recent winners have included PGA Tour winner Jodie Mudd (1980, 1981) and PGA Tour winner Billy Mayfair (1986).
