Philip Barbaree rallies to win US Junior Amateur
Jul 25, 2015, 4:36 PM
BLUFFTON, S.C. (AP) — Philip Barbaree rallied to win the U.S. Junior Amateur on Saturday, beating Andrew Orischak on the 37th hole after overcoming a late five-hole deficit.
The 17-year-old Barbaree, from Shreveport, Louisiana, won the par-5 29th and par-4 30th with birdies and the par-4 32nd and 33rd with pars to pull within a hole on Colleton River Plantation Club’s Pete Dye Course. He tied it with a par on the par-4 36th and won with a bogey on the par-4 37th.
“It’s definitely the biggest junior tournament out there and to win it means a lot,” Barbaree said. “It says a lot about how much I’ve been practicing for this and how hard I’ve been working for this.”
Barbaree matched the largest comeback in event history. Three years ago at Golf Club of New Hampshire, Andy Hyeon Bo Shim overcame a five-hole deficit to beat Jim Liu 4 and 3.
Barbaree works with Cameron McCormick, the Dallas-based instructor who also coaches Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth
The 16-year-old Orischak is from nearby Hilton Head Island.
“The whole week, I just said I was going to hit one shot at a time and I thought that the mentally toughest person was going to win,” Orischak said. “And it wasn’t me because I got ahead of myself. I was thinking about winning before the match was over, and I still had golf to be played.”
Barbaree finished off his semifinal match in the morning, winning the 18th with a par for a 1-up victory over South Korea’s Won Jun Lee. They were tied after 17 holes Friday when play was suspended because of darkness in the weather-delayed tournament.
Orischak advanced to the final Friday, beating Eugene Hong of Sanford, Florida, 3 and 2.
Barbaree and Orischak earned spots in the U.S. Amateur next month at Olympia Fields in Illinois.
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