DAYTON, Ohio -- Jackson Koivun completed his march to the medal at the Western Amateur on Friday morning. The soon-to-be sophomore at Auburn, who won virtually every award there was to win in college golf during the 2023-24 season -- except the NCAA individual championship, which he missed out on by a single shot -- finished off a final round of 2-under-par 69 at Moraine Country Club. He had to wait until Friday morning to do that, after rain forced a suspension of play late Thursday. Koivun ended the medal-play part of the tourhament with a 72-hole total of 269, and that was good for a two-stroke victory over Tyson Shelley.
Shelley, who will be a senior at Brigham Young this fall, inserted himself into contention for medalist honors by shooting 64 Thursday morning in the third round. He had eight 3s on his card, including a pair of eagles, at the 639-yard, par-5 eighth and 610-yard 13th. And he pulled ahead briefly during the final round, thanks to birdies att the par-3 fifth and par-4 seventh holes.
Meanwhile, Koivun was making a birdie at the fifth and a bogey at the sixth. But he played the last 12 holes in 2 under, with birdies at the eighth and 16th (410 yards, par 4), and Shelley was 2 over, with three bogeys and two birdies.
The real drama, however, was reserved for the players who were trying to get into the Sweet 16, and match play.
Ben Warian, the University of, Minnesota All-American from Stillwater, was one of them. He started the day tied for seventh and shot 70 in the morning round. But he had a nasty stretch on the front nine in the afternoon round -- a bogey at the fifth and a double at the sixth. Warian fought back to salvage a 72 for the round, with a birdie on the 18th hole. But that gave him a 72-hole tab of 278, and put him into an eight-way tie for 16th place -- which meant he was going to be part of an 8-for-1 playoff on Friday morning for the last spot in the Sweet 16.
As it turned out, Parker Bell got that last spot. Bell, who will be a junior at Florida, birdied three of his last four holes -- including the 17th and 18th holoes -- just to get into the playoff. He shot 68, which got him to 278.
The Western Am is probably the most grueling amateur tournament, at least in the U.S., requiring three consecutive double-round days for the two players who make it to the match-play finals. Thursday was a long day for Warian, and Friday could have been another long one. But unfortunately, it turned out to be a short one.
22nd Western Amateur Championship
At Moraine Country Club
Par 71, 7,246 yards
Dayton, Ohio
Second-round results
(44 players and -- lots of -- ties made the cut after 36 holes; the top 16 after 72 holes went into match play)
1. Jackson Koivun, Chapel Hill, N.C., 65-66-69-69--269 (-15)
2. Tyson Shelley, Holladay, Utah 66-70-64-71--271
T3. Henry Guan, Irving, Texas 68-69-68-67--272
T3. Ian Gilligan, Reno, Nev. 69-65-68-70--272
5. Ben James, Milford, Conn. 66-68-66-73--273
T6. Jackson Herrington, Dickson, Tenn. 70-69-68-68--275
T6. Jake Peacock, Milton, Ga. 69-66-71-69--275
T8. Gregory Solhaug, Norway 71-69-69-67--276
T8. Mikkel Mathiesen, Denmark 72-66-69-69--276
T8. Jack Turner, Orlando, Fla. 66-75-68-67--276
T8. William Sides, Tulsa, Okla. 71-70-70-65--276
T8. Zachary Pollo, Rocklin, Calif. 66-67-70-73--276
T13. Blades Brown, Nashville, Tenn. 68-70-69-70--277
T13. Mahanth Chirravuri, Chandler, Ariz. 68-73-68-68--277
T13. Max Herendeen, Bellevue, Wash. 68-66-69-70--277
T16. Parker Bell, Tallahassee, Fla. 72-68-70-68--278
After a rain delay on Thursday that forced a suspension in play, the medal-play portion of the tournament was completed Friday morning.
After that there was an 8-for-1 playoff for the last spot in the Sweet 16, which Parker Bell won.
The following players tied for 16th place, but did not advance to match play:
T16. Ben Warian, Stillwater 66-70-70-72--278
T16. Carson Bacha, York, Pa. 73-66-69-70--278
T16. Miles Russell, Jacksonville Bch. Fla. 71-70-69-68--278
T16. Alexander Yang, China 71-69-69-69--278
T16. Tommy Morrison, Dallas 68-71-69-70--278
T16. Matthew Troutman, Louisville, Ky. 70-70-68-70--278
T16. Matthew Comegys, Van Alstyne, Texas 68-69-72-69--278
What it took to make the 36-hole cut -- 141 (19-way tie for 36th)
Failed to make the cut
Nate Stevens, Northfield 73-37--146
Gunnar Broin, Shorewood 73-75--148
Sweet 16 Matches
First round
No. 16 Bell def. No. 1 Koivun 3&2
No. 9 Mathiesen def. No. 8 Solhaug 3&2
No. 4 Gilligan def. No. 13 Brown 2&1
No. 5 James def. No. 12 Pollo 5&4
No. 2 Shelley def. No. 15 Herendeen 5&4
No. 10 Turner def. No. 7 Peacock 2&1
No. 3 Guan def. No.. 14 Chirravuri 2&1
No. 11 Sides def. No. 6 Herrington 1 up
Quarterfinals
Bell def. Mathiesen 3&2
Gilligan def. James 2&1
Turner def. Shelley 5&4
Guan def. Sides 3&2
Semifinals
Gilligan def. Bell 19 holes
Turner def. Guan 19 holes
Final
Gilligan def. Turner 29 holes