Doc Redman of Raleigh, N.C., rallied from 2 down on the final holes and captured the 117th United States Amateur Championship by beating Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights with a conceded birdie on the 37th hole at famed Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
Redman, a 19-year-old sophomore at Clemson, sank a 60-foot eagle putt on the 17th hole and added an eight-footer for birdie on the last to force the playoff.
“It’s incredible to add my name to the list of all the champions and to have conquered arguably the best field in amateur golf in a really difficult grind,” said Redman, who qualified 62nd in the 64-player field during stroke-play.
“I beat some of the best players in the world, and I hope that this can catapult me up into that conversation as well going forward.”
Ghim, a senior at Texas who won the Pacific Coast Amateur last month at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., trailed for 16 of the 18 holes of the morning round, but came back in the afternoon and took a 2-up lead with two holes remaining by winning the 31st and 34th holes.
On the playoff hole, No. 10, Ghim hooked his drive with a 3-wood into the rough, ran his second shot through the green into a bunker, hit his third into another bunker before hitting the green and missing his bogey putt.
Then he conceded Redman’s 12-foot birdie putt.
“I felt like I did everything that I could to force him to make incredible shots,” Ghim said. “He stepped up and did it, and kudos to him. I’m very happy for him.”
After the tournament, Redman and Ghim were among 10 selections for the United States team for the Walker Cup matches against Great Britain and Ireland in three weeks at The Los Angeles Country Club.
