Ewen Ferguson, a student at Hilton Head’s Junior Players Golf Academy, has become the first Scot in almost a decade to win the prestigious Boys Amateur Championship, hosted by The Royal and Ancient.
Ferguson is a student at Hilton Head Island’s Junior Players Golf Academy.
The 17-year-old from Bearsden came from three down after the first five holes to defeat Germany’s Michael Hirmer, 10 and 9 in the 36-hole final at Royal Liverpool.
“This is absolutely amazing,” the new champion said in a release after his par on the 27th hole won the match..
“I’ve worked hard over the last two years and this has made it all worthwhile,” Ferguson said. “It is a great moment for me and it’s even more special because my family have come down to see it. Mom and dad have made a lot of sacrifices for me over the years, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for everything they have done.
“The funny thing is I never seem to play well when dad’s watching,”
he said. “My golf was terrible first thing this morning but as soon as dad disappeared about the fifth hole I started to play well.”
Previous winners include Jose Maria Olazabal (1983), Sergio Garcia (1997) and last year’s winner, Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the U.S. Amateur on Sunday.
Ferguson started his comeback with a 35-foot birdie putt across the green on No. 6 and then won both Nos. 7 and 8 to get back to all square for the first time since the second hole.
The wind was still howling across the course as Ferguson won the 10th. He gave back a hole with a wayward drive on the 12th before starting his charge for the clubhouse by holing an 18-foot putt for a birdie to win the par-3 13th.
The confident Scot went two up when he birdied the 15th before hitting a wonderful 3-wood into the heart of the green at the 17th.
Hirmer seemed to have the upper hand when Ferguson hit a 3-wood 310 yards into a fairway bunker on the 18th but both players hit their second shots into the same greenside bunker and it was the Scot who holed the 16-foot putt for an unlikely par.
Ferguson was 3 under for the final 14 holes of his morning round and he was 2 under in the afternoon by the time he claimed the match on the 27th hole.
The Scot won the first hole of the second round when Hirmer hit his second shot into the deep rough that guards the left of the green. He went on to win the 20th hole with a birdie and then went seven up when Hirmer missed the green on the par-3 22nd.
The German did get one hole back when he holed out from 9 feet for a birdie on the 23rd, but the writing was on the wall when Ferguson won three holes in a row from the 24th and it all ended on the 27th when the players halved the hole in regulation par 4s.
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