Top Amateur players gather for the coveted Porter Cup in New York
United States Men’s Amateur Tour will return to full swing with this week’s Porter Cup, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 27 at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, NY. Players from all over the world will come down for the coveted amateur title
on mainland US in a bid to qualify for a berth in the upcoming professional tour events.
David Chung, the 2010 defending champion and the Western Amateur winner, will be returning to defend his title against a sturdy field of amateur players.
Porter Cup is one of the most celebrated amateur events on the calendar, played over 72-hole Stroke Play format. Players of the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Hal Sutton and Justin Leonard have all played in the tournament,
with only Mickelson winning the title once in 1990.
2009 US Walker Cup Team member Nathan Smith will also be part of the field and will be playing at the event for a staggering eighth time. He is also a three-time US Mid-Amateur champion and will be playing alongside mid-amateur hopefuls Mike McCoy and Skip
Berkmeyer.
Some of the top amateur players of the season on the PGA Tour will be participating in the event including 2011 Nationwide Tour winner and US Open participant Russell Henley, 2011 NCAA champion John Peterson and 2011 British Amateur champion Bryden Macpherson.
Henley has performed brilliantly for the season and will be a serious contender in the event.
Macpherson has had a phenomenal run for the current season and almost made the cut at the Open Championship a fortnight ago. He battled the tough Links course of Royal St. George’s, barely missing the cut. He had posted a Top-20 finish at the Dogwood Invitational
just before the start of the Open Championship, which speaks volumes of his current form.
Richardson is also one of the formidable contenders in the event and comes with priceless familiarity with the Niagara Falls Country Club. He has played thrice on the course and will be hoping to bag his maiden amateur title.
Top Australian and New Zealand players will be flying across the Pacific to participate in the event and will include the likes of Brett Drewitt, Tim Hart, Nathan Holman, Ryan McCarthy, Kalem Richardson, Todd Sinnott, Cameron Smith, Matt Stieger and Daniel
Nisbet.
Drewitt is a relatively new player on the Amateur circuit but has pulled in a splendid event for the season so far. Sinnot also has struck early chemistry with the US courses and has already posted three Top-20 finishes so far for the season. He posted a
Top-10 finish at the Players Amateur just a few weeks back.
Harris English will be leading the pack from the American end having won his maiden professional title on the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus Ohio. He is only the third amateur to ever win on the Nationwide Tour.
Also part of the field will be the runner-up on Nationwide Tour event last week, John Peterson who remained in contention for the top slot in the final round, finally caving in on the penultimate hole.
The field at this year’s Porter Cup will be representing countries including United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Germany and South Africa.
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