Michael Bernard Qualifies for U.S. Amateur Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
July 15, 2015
RELATED INFO
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michael Bernard, a rising redshirt junior, secured his spot in the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship to be held August 17-23 at the Olympia Field Country Club just outside of Chicago. Bernard carded a two-round total of 140 to earn one of three U.S. Amateur tickets awarded in sectional qualifying at the Dayton Country Club.
A total of 312 competitors travelling from 20 different countries will converge in the Windy City vying to become the 121st winner of the U.S. Amateur, America’s oldest golf championship. A champion will be crowned following 36 holes of stroke play (Aug. 17-18) to determine the 64-man match play bracket. Match play is contested over a five-day span with national television coverage provided throughout. FOX Sports 1 is set for three hours (3-6 p.m. ET) each day through the Quarterfinal matches before giving way to FOX’s broadcast (also 3-6 p.m. ET) of the Semifinal and Championship matches.
Bernard redshirted the 2014-15 season after in competing 16 tournaments during his first two years on campus, including a top-20 individual performance at the 2013 Big Ten Championships as a freshman.
The last man standing has thrice been a Buckeye in the U.S. Amateur. Jack Nicklaus captured the title in both 1959 and 1961 while John Cook emerged victorious in 1978.
HISTORY OF THE U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP*
The Amateur Championship is the oldest golf championship in this country – one day older than the U.S. Open. Except for an eight-year period, from 1965-72, when it was stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play championship.
Many of golf’s greatest players had held the U.S. Amateur title. It was, however, longtime amateur Robert T. Jones Jr., who first attracted media coverage and spectator attendance at the Amateur Championship. Jones captured the championship five times (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930). His 1930 victory was a stunning moment in golf history when, at Merion Cricket Club in Ardmore, Pa., Jones rounded out the Grand Slam, winning the four major American and British championships in one year.
Sixty-six years later, in 1996, Tiger Woods attracted similar interest and enthusiasm when he won a record third straight U.S. Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore.
In 1994, Woods, at 18, entered the record book as the then youngest ever to win the Amateur Championship. In 1996, he smashed yet another record when he won, having registered 18 consecutive match-play victories.
*Information provided by the USGA
