OSU’s Fang co-medalist at Western; Herman in top five in Junior PGA; Roden, Hughett qualify for U.S. Senior Amateur
GLENCOE, Illinois – Oklahoma State’s Ethan Fang and Florida’s Zack Swanwick are no strangers to success this year.
Fang, who led the Cowboys to an NCAA team championship, and Swanwick, a standout freshman who helped Florida capture the SEC Championship, shared co-medalist honors at the 123rd Western Amateur Championship at Skokie Country Club on Thursday. Both finished at 5-under after 72 holes of stroke play, earning a two-shot cushion over the rest of the elite field.
It marks the first time since 2018 – when Cole Hammer and Sam Stevens tied at Sunset Ridge Country Club – that the Western Amateur has crowned co-medalists in stroke play.
Fang, a Plano, Texas, native and the No. 3 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was the only competitor to post all four rounds in red figures (69-69-68-69). The winner of the 130th Amateur Championship – a stroke- and match-play event in England – will now look to carry that form into match play.
“Winning in England gave me a lot of confidence,” Fang said. “I’ve played a good amount of these match-play tournaments now. Having a couple of those under my belt will help going into the rest of this tournament.”
Swanwick, ranked No. 93 in the WAGR, posted rounds of 69-69-67-70 to match Fang atop the leaderboard. The Napier, New Zealand, native has thrived in match-play formats, anchoring Florida’s run to its 17th SEC title earlier this year.
The drama at Skokie Country Club continued into the evening as a 7-for-6 playoff – which lasted four holes – unfolded to finish cutting the field down from 51 players to the Sweet 16.
Surviving the playoff and advancing to match play were No. 9 Jase Summy (Oklahoma), No. 163 Taishi Moto (Arizona), No. 22 Bryan Lee (Virginia), No. 18 Jacob Modleski (Notre Dame), No. 55 Hugo Le Goff (a Virginia commit) and No. 42 Anh Minh Nguyen (Oregon State).
Three players tied for third in the stroke-play portion at 3-under: No. 6 Tommy Morrison (Texas), No. 57 Garrett Endicott (Mississippi State) and No. 17 Max Herendeen (Illinois).
A group of five players finished at 2-under to share sixth place: 34-year-old Stewart Hagestad, No. 25 Cameron Adam (Northwestern), No. 2 Benjamin James (Virginia), No. 35 Eric Lee (Oklahoma State) and No. 50 William Sides (SMU) of Tulsa.
With Fang, Lee, Sides and Summy, a full quarter of the 16 survivors have Oklahoma ties.
Live streaming coverage of the match play rounds will be available on ESPN+, with over 12 hours of broadcast scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Coverage will be available to ESPN+ subscribers via the ESPN app, ESPN.com and connected TV devices. Coverage will also be available in Canada on TSN+, and the Caribbean and Latin America on Disney+.
First played at Glen View Club in 1899, the Western Amateur is the world’s third-oldest amateur championship, behind only the British Amateur (1885) and the U.S. Amateur (1895). It regularly attracts the top players from across the country and around the world, with past champions like Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
Herman, Hughes on the move in Junior PGA Championship
Lisa Herman of Jenks was in fifth place early in the final round of the Junior PGA Championship at the Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. She was 7-under par, five shots behind leader Asterisk Talley of Chowchilla, Calif.
On the boys side, Chase Hughes of Oklahoma City shot a third-round 68 and was tied for 21st early in his final round today.
Roden, Hughett qualify for U.S. Senior Amateur Championship
Ron Roden of Oklahoma City and Mike Hughett of Owasso nabbed the two spots available in the U.S. Senior Amateur in a qualifier at Oakwood Country Club in Enid Thursday.
Roden shot a 1-under 70 while Hughett came in at 3-over 74. Blake Gibson of Yukon (75) and Charlie Stevens of Wichita (75) are the alternates.
The 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur is Aug. 23-28 at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas.