Franklin's Steven Mann towels off in the Texas heat at the U.S. Senior Amateur
photo by USGA/Ted Pio Roda
Steven Mann took on a pair of guys named Joe on Tuesday at the 70th U.S. Senior Amateur. After defeating Joe Alfieri in his morning Round of 32 match, he ran into another opponent that was no ordinary Joe in the afternoon Round of 16.
Joe Sawaia of Henderson, Nev. overcame a 1 down deficit at the turn by winning four holes on the back nine without losing a hole at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas to advance with a 3 and 2 victory.
Sawaia - seeded No. 42 – took down 10th-seeded Gordy McKeown of Arkansas by a 2 and 1 count in the morning to force the matchup with Mann.
Mann birdied No. 1 to draw first blood, then halved the next three holes with pars. Sawaia pulled off an eagle at the 588-yard par-5 fifth to better Mann’s birdie and square the match, but Mann regained his 1 up spread with another birdie at six. The golfers then traded wins with Mann making the turn 1 up after securing a lead at No. 9 with a bogey.
That’s when Sawaia swung the momentum in his favor that decided the outcome. After evening up the match with a par at ten, Sawaia played mistake-free golf the rest of the way. A birdie at 13 gave him his first lead, and another birdie at 15 put him 2 up. He then punched his ticket into Wednesday’s quarterfinals with a par on 16.
Mann wasn’t able to replicate his earlier magic, carding four bogeys and no birdies over his last nine holes. But it was still a memorable week for the Golf Club of Tennessee member in making it two rounds deeper into the tournament than he did in his inaugural appearance last year.
The Franklin native, who earned a No. 7 seed with his strong stroke play qualifying, took down Alfieri of Lutz, Fla. by a 4 and 2 measure earlier in the day.
Similar to his Round of 64 match, Mann was able to gain early control of his encounter with Alfieri. After both golfers parred the opening hole, Mann won the next three to take a 3 up lead only four holes into the match.
The highlight of Mann’s early surge took place when he carded an eagle on the 397-yard par-4 fourth for his third straight winner, coming on the heels of a birdie on the previous hole.
Consecutive bogeys at seven and eight by Mann allowed Alfieri to shave his deficit back to one. But Mann promptly responded to win holes 10 and 11 with pars to regain his 3 up advantage. After halving the next two holes with pars, another birdie coming at 14 increased the gap to 4 up.
Alfieri was able to win one back at 15 with a par, but Mann drove the final nail in a 4 and 2 win with one last birdie at 16 – his fourth of the round to go with an eagle.
Top-seeded John Kemp of England was also eliminated in the Round of 16, falling by a 2 and 1 margin to Mike Sposa of Spartanburg, S.C. Former champion Bob Royak of Alpharetta eliminated fellow Atlantan Jack Larkin Sr. in 19 holes. The remaining quarterfinalists are Michael Anderson of Northville, Mich., Michael McCoy of Des Moines, Iowa, Bob Niger of Roseville, Calif., Greg Sanders of Anthem, Ariz. and Spain’s Jacobo Cestino.
For complete results, go to U.S. Senior Amateur.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com
Steven Mann congratulates Joe Sawaia at the conclusion of their Round of 16 match
photo by USGA/Ted Pio Roda