Preston Summerhays goes low, cruises to Sunnehanna Amateur title

Preston Summerhays improved for a fourth consecutive day, cruising to the Sunnehanna Amateur title.

Preston Summerhays entered the final round of the 67th Sunnehanna Amateur on Friday morning with a one-shot lead and a clear plan: don’t miss long, stay below the hole, attack where you can with a wedge in hand.

“Pars and two-putts are going to be very valuable tomorrow,” Preston said Thursday night.

His 11 pars made during the final round were quite valuable, as were the six birdies. The 2021 Arizona State commit improved yet again for the fourth consecutive day, carding a 5-under 65 to win the title, tying the tournament record at 14 under. Past champions include the likes of Ben Crenshaw, Brad Faxon, Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa.

Sunnehanna Amateur: Leaderboard
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Summerhays would have run away with the title had it not been for Texas’ Travis Vick, who signed for an incredible 7-under 63 on Friday to take solo second at 11 under. LSU’s Trey Winstead finished third at 10 under, followed by Quade Cummins (Oklahoma), Connor Schmidt (Drexel) and Brandon Mancheno (Auburn) all T-4 at 9 under.

Instead of defending his U.S. Junior Amateur title – this year’s event was scheduled for July 20-25 at Hazeltine before being canceled – Summerhays added another major amateur championship to his name, but his summer is just starting to heat up.

The kid known as “Ruthless P” for his attitude on the course now goes straight to the Western Amateur at Crooked Stick (July 27-Aug. 1), followed by five much-deserved days off. From there it’s on to the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes (Aug. 10-16) and the the U.S. Open at Winged Foot (Sept. 17-20).

After his uncle Daniel’s impressive performance in his professional golf swan song and father Boyd’s immediate impact on the bag for Tony Finau, the “Summer of Summerhays” keeps on rolling.