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List Goes 19 Holes to Defeat Nallen; Reaches U.S. Amateur Final 8/21/2004
List Goes 19 Holes to Defeat Nallen; Reaches U.S. Amateur Final Following a lengthy delay due to dangerous weather conditions at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., sixth-seeded Vanderbilt golfer Luke List successfully advanced to tomorrow’s U.S. Amateur Championship match with a 19-hole victory over University of Arizona graduate and 10th-seeded Chris Nallen. Sunday’s final will consist of two 18-hole rounds beginning at 7:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. CT, with tape-delayed coverage scheduled for ESPN2 from 2-4 p.m. CT. List will now face top-seeded Ryan Moore, a senior at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, who advanced to Sunday’s 36-hole match-play championship by defeating Jeff Overton 2 and 1 in the day’s opening semifinal. The U.S. Amateur champion receives an exemption into the 2005 U.S. Open and a probable invitation to play in the 2005 Masters Tournament, if he remains an amateur. He also receives a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Amateur field so long as he does not become a professional. Quick starts seem to be List’s trademark during this year’s U.S. Amateur as the Vanderbilt golfer grabbed a 1-up lead when Nallen bogeyed the opening hole. The match drew all-square following a bogey by List at #2 and would remain even until the Vanderbilt sophomore carded eagle/birdie at holes #4 and #5, respectively, to gain a 2-up lead. List, a 2004 Ping Third Team All-American, added to his advantage over last season’s NCAA Division I national individual runner-up when Nallen posted a five on the par-4 eighth hole to improve List to 3-up heading to the turn. The match began to tighten up on the back nine as List suffered bogey at #10 and a double-bogey at the par-5 12th to cut his advantage over Nallen to just 1-up. However, with the skies at the Winged Foot Golf Club growing dark, List registered a birdie on the par-4 15th to go 2-up as the weather system moved in and the horn sounded to suspend play. When the duo returned to the links following a three-hour and 29-minute delay, it was obvious that the momentum List had gained from a pre-delay birdie at #15 had dissipated as the VU sophomore suffered bogeys at #16 and #18 to square the match and force extra holes. With a berth in Sunday’s final requiring extra time, List and Nallen returned to the first hole, where the Commodore golfer made short work of the overtime session by carding a birdie to advance to Sunday’s prestigious U.S. Amateur final. List is the first Vanderbilt men’s golfer ever to be chosen to the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Freshman squad. He also became just the second VU golfer (Brandt Snedeker 2002, 2003 All-American) in program history to achieve All-America status after a 2003-04 campaign in which he posted nine top-10 finishes in 13 events, led the Black and Gold in scoring average at 72.03 and helped the Commodores advance to the NCAA Division I Championships in Hot Springs, Va. List established two new school records during his initial campaign at Vanderbilt. He carded a 9-under par 63 at the 2004 Hyatt/Dorado Beach Intercollegiate to establish new school marks for most shots under par in a single round (nine) and lowest single round score (63). Match play at the U.S. Amateur is being contested on the 7,266-yard, par-70 layout of the Winged Foot Golf Club’s West Course. Designed by A. W. Tillinghast and opened in 1923, Winged Foot has hosted nine USGA championships, including the U.S. Open in 1929, 1959, 1974 and 1984, the U.S. Women’s Open in 1957 and 1972, the U.S. Senior Open in 1980, the U.S. Amateur in 1940 and the Walker Cup Match in 1949. To follow Luke List’s progress at the U.S. Amateur, check back to www.vucommodores.com or visit www.usamateur.org for complete tournament results as they become available. |
