Pierceson Coody wins Western Amateur
CARMEL, Ind. — Texas golfer Pierceson Coody edged Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson, 2-and-1, to win the 118th Western Amateur at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.
Bringing home the George R. Thorne Trophy made Coody, who will be a junior this year at UT, the seventh Longhorn to win the event, joining a list that includes Texas golf luminaries Ben Crenshaw and Justin Leonard, as well as current UT teammate Cole Hammer, who won at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, Illinois, in 2018.
The No. 16 player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Coody closed in on the title when he trained holed out from 20 feet and Neergaard-Petersen, the 2018 and 2019 champion of the German International Amateur, then missed his 5-foot par putt.
“That’s match play,” Coody said. “His putt became a lot longer and a lot harder. He knew if he missed, it’s the end of the game.”
The grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody, Pierceson Coody called the win the biggest of his career, chalking up the victory to his ability to maintain consistency.
“It’s definitely a stepping stone,” he said, “and it feels so good. It was such a tough test. The pins in the afternoon were absolutely brutal. The course is so punishing if you miss it in the wrong spots. But I had a lot of consistent play. That was the key.”
Coody reached the final by knocking off George Duangmanee, 1 up, after trailing the Virginia freshman through 14 holes.
