CONCORD, Mass. — It felt like a movie. The entire week.
Five days after the unexpected death of his father, Conner Willett won the 114th Massachusetts Amateur Championship.
“I honestly don’t know how he was able to do what he did this week,” said Ethan Whitney, Willett’s caddie and friend. “It was absolutely incredible. The Lord works in mysterious ways I guess.”
With Willett up three in match play through 33 holes of play on Friday in the finals, all the 19-year-old had to do was tie the hole with 16-year-old Ryan Downes. Instead Willett hit a 10-foot birdie putt on 16 to clinch the match.
“I was hoping he made it but I was happy with him just lagging it up and tap it in for par,” Whitney said. “But that was the best way (for him) to finish off the match and finish off this win.”
In a final in which the combined age of the two participants was just 35 years old, at 19 years, seven months and 23 days old, Willett became the youngest winner of the Mass Amateur Championship since Jim Sallinetti won it in 1997 at 19 years, four months and 23 days old. He is also the second straight Wellesley native to win the tournament after Michael Thorbjornsen won it last year.
As emotional as it was to sink the final birdie putt on 16, Willett hit an even more improbable birdie putt on Thursday afternoon in the semifinals.
The Belmont Hill grad and Georgetown rising sophomore defeated Billy Argus of Canton (5 and 4) with a putt on hole No. 14 to advance to the finals.
“There were a couple of bounces (Thursday) where he just looked at me like, ‘Thanks Rick,’” Whitney said. “He’s definitely smiling up there for sure and is super proud of him.”
As the week went on, more and more blue ribbons with Willett’s father’s (Rick Willett) initials “RW” dotted the course at Concord Country Club.
“I asked him if he wanted to do anything,” Whitney said. “I threw up ribbons and he told me to get blue ribbons so I made like 50 of them and the family absolutely loved it and really appreciated it.
“The amount of support that this family has gotten from this community has been absolutely incredible. It meant the absolute world to them.”
Willett actually beat Whitney in match play Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals.
“I knew with everything that has happened this week that if he beat me, I had to be there for him,” Whitney said.
According to Willett, they had promised each other that whoever won, the other would caddie for…
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