Sherratt Master of the Amateurs
20 Jan 2010 - 00:00:00
At Yarra Yarra Golf Club on the Melbourne sandbelt, Australia's Jordan Sherratt won the 2010 Master of the Amateurs, the biggest win of his career to date, after defeating Walker Cup star Bud Cauley in a play-off.
After four rounds, both finished at the top of the leaderboard on four under par, two strokes ahead of a field which included former WAGR number ones, Morgan Hoffmann and Victor Dubuisson.
'I was playing very average out there at the beginning but just was able to grind it out,' said the 21-year-old, who, remarkably, finished the first round 10 shots ahead of Cauley.
'It's a great to win against a field like this.' Thanks to his latest victory, 2009 Riversdale Cup champion Sherratt will now look forward to an exemption into the Amateur Championship at Muirfield and North Berwick, as well as certain starts at the Porter Cup, the Players Amateur, the Dogwood Invitational and the Canadian Men's Amateur.
He moves up 27 places to WAGRank 21 in Week Three. Cauley, meanwhile, rises two positions to reach fourth place. At the same event, fellow Australian Kieran Pratt maintained his phenomenal run of form with a third-place finish.
His meteoric rise up the Ranking continues with a 32-position jump to finish the week ranked 58th. Elsewhere, Jorge Simon took the first-ever Copa de Invierno at the Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain, edging Carlos Pigem into second place.
A final round of level-par 72 was enough to secure the title for Simon, who makes an amazing 1115-place leap to WAGRank 2045 on the back of his victory. Pigem also advances: he's up 28 to 141st.
And finally, Nick Gillespie completed a wire-to-wire victory at the North Island Stroke Play championships at Hutt Golf Club in Wellington, New Zealand. A final round of level-par 70 was enough for Gillespie to claim a three-shot victory and his second North Island title, this one coming three years after the first. "It feels better than the first time, actually," said the new WAGR number 992.
"It's a nice relief. I haven't been playing well the last few years so it's a good start to 2010 and it's nice to get the name back on the trophy." Italy's Matteo Manassero remains the WAGR Number One.
