"Insane" - Foley and McClean square off for US Mid-Am
Hugh Foley and Matthew McClean pose with the championship trophy prior to the finals starting at the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis. on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)
Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley and Malone’s Matt McClean will be battling for dream starts in the US Open and the Masters after they qualified for the final of the US Mid-Amateur Championship in Wisconsin this afternoon.
The first 18 holes of the 36-hole final will be played this evening with the second 18 set for tomorrow morning after the championship was disrupted by heavy rain. The final was originally scheduled yesterday.
Foley (25), who this summer became the first man since Darren Clarke in 1990 to win the North of Ireland and South of Ireland titles back to back, beat Minnesota’s Bryce Hanstad 3&2 as McClean (29) beat North Dakota’s Josh Persons by the same margin in the semi-finals at Erin Hills.
“Insane,” said Foley, whose excellent putting made the difference. “We’ve been planning this for months and like didn't know what the standard would be like. We heard Stewart Hagestad, No. 7 in the world, we were like, I don't know, will we make the cut, you know? You're travelling all that way and hoping you don't miss the cut.
“It's just been unbelievable. Me and Matt have spent every second of the trip together. We flew over together and stayed with Greg Zieman there, came in to watch, and then we stayed with Dan for the last few days, so we're sharing a house.
“It's going to be weird. We've played each other a few times. We had great matches. I know how good a player he is. 36 holes, going to be weird but fun.”
Ranked 195th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Foley got the better of 120th-ranked McClean, 3&2, in the semi-finals of the AIG Irish Amateur Close at Headfort last month before losing to Quentin Carew in the final.
But McClean will have a chance of some revenge in the 36-hole final with spots in the Masters at Augusta National and the US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club on the line for the winner.
“I'm sure it'll be like any other match, it'll be focus on our own game and try to win,” McClean said. “We've played each other a few times already, so I'm sure it'll be obviously played in a good spirit, but we both want to win
“I'd say we'll talk to each other a bit, but it won't be a social round of golf I don't think. I'm sure we'll work it out, but it'll be fun either way.”
Foley, who was bitterly disappointed not to be named on the Irish team for the Eisenhower Trophy in Paris, won the Bridgestone Order of Merit on the domestic scene this year.
He went birdie-par-birdie at the third, fourth and fifth to go three up and while he lost the par-five seventh to a birdie, he made an excellent up and down from sand to halve the eighth and won the ninth in par to turn three-up.
Hanstad won the 10th in par but Foley birdied the 13th to go three up and while he lost the 15th to another birdie, he made a winning par-three at the 16th to make the final.
McClean, who is bidding for his first big title, was one down after three holes as he won the first in par but lost the second and third to birdies from Persons (38) who was reinstated as an amateur in 2018 after playing on both the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Canada.
The Belfast optometrist birdied the fifth and sixth to go one up again and while he lost the par-five seventh to a par, he won four of the next five holes to take a 4 up lead.
After making a winning par at the eighth, he birdied the 1380yard ninth to turn 2-up, then birdied the 11th and 12th to go 4-up.
Persons won back a hole with a birdie three at the 15th before McClean closed out a 3&2 win at the next.
“I birdied 9, 11, 12, which were good birdies,” McClean said. “Any birdie out here is good. But he birdied 2 and 3 against me and then I got one back on 5 with a birdie. It was a good match, good standard. But just hit a couple really good shots into sort of good birdie chances."
A victory by either McClean or Foley would give the U.S. Mid-Amateur its second international champion after Australia’s Lukas Michel in 2019 at Colorado Golf Club.
The champion receives a spot in next year’s U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club and a likely invitation into April’s Masters Tournament.
The first 18 holes of the 36-hole final will start at 1830 Irish time this evening with the second 18 set for 7 am local time (1300 Irish time) tomorrow.
Foley will be the narrow favourite having won stroke play editions of the AIG Irish Close (2019) and the West of Ireland (2020) before adding the North of Ireland (stroke play) and South of Ireland (matchplay) titles this summer.
“When we play in Ireland it's easier,” Foley said. “We probably wouldn't have been joking or speaking much.
“Now that we're in America, feels like it's brought us a bit closer together. I don't know. I think we'll just play it in good spirit and just stay really focused rather than -- there won't be any gamesmanship, hopefully just two focused guys rather than two guys having a laugh and joking.”
McClean said: “I think you're better off playing the course, but I think it's impossible not to play your opponent. If your opponent hits one into the heavy rough, you're automatically going to play defensive.
“You probably still have to remain somewhat attacking on the course because if you play defensive, especially around a course like this, you can quickly follow with a bogey or double bogey, as well. It's a balance really. I think you've got to know when to attack and when to sort of defend, as well.”
