PARAMUS, N.J. — Oops.
Michael Thorbjornsen had the U.S. Amateur medal in his back pocket Tuesday until the 20-year-old Stanford All-American made a mess of the 18th hole at Arcola Country Club. An ill-timed double bogey resulted in Fred Biondi, Luke Gutschewski and Hugo Townsend sharing the honor.
He drove into a bunker, hit a chunky gap wedge, chipped to eight feet and three-putted to finish at 3-under 138.
No harm. No foul.
“Yeah, I mean, medalist, solo medalist, same thing,” said Thorbjornsen, who last month won the Western Am. “It doesn’t really matter. Kind of just more disappointed in myself for just doubling the last hole, whether it’s for nothing or for the whole tournament to win the U.S. Amateur or win medalist or whatever. I just don’t like playing bad golf.”
Biondi who’s a senior at Florida by way of São Paulo, Brazil, was the only player in the field with a pair of sub-70 rounds. Only eight players finished in the red. Gutschewski plays at Iowa State. His father, Scott, is prepping for the Korn Ferry Tour finals. Townsend is a 23-year-old native of Ireland and resident of Sweden. He played four seasons at Boise State and is heading for graduate school at Ole Miss.
Thorbjornsen ranks among the favorites this week.
“I’d say I have the momentum I need,” he said. “Kind of just going to forget about this last hole here, sort out my driver tomorrow morning or whenever I’m teeing off, maybe hit the gym or something, I don’t know, because it’s unacceptable the way I’m hitting my driver right now, especially at Ridgewood.”
Thorbjornsen is making his fifth appearance in the U.S. Amateur. He reached the quarterfinals in 2020 at Bandon Dunes. The Massachusetts resident won the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.
Experience is a bonus.
“It’s definitely going to help,” Thorbjornsen added. “Just playing all these match play events … I kind of know how it’s going to go. I’m really happy that we’re playing Ridgewood as a match play course. Very tough, have to hit the ball well. I played well there yesterday. Felt like I can play well again there (Wednesday) and this upcoming week.
“Yeah, it’s completely new tomorrow. Who cares about what happened today? I’m going to try and forget about it.”
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