Michigan State senior James Piot overcame a 3-Down deficit with nine holes remaining at historic Oakmont Country Club to win the 121st USGA Amateur Championship 2&1 over North Carolina junior Austin Greaser in a 36-hole final match.
“I knew that the driver was a little bit shaky, but good swings were coming,” said Piot, a two-time All-Big Ten selection. "It was just stay confident in myself, and keep it going.”
Leading 2-Up with two holes remaining, Piot appeared to allow Greaser back into the match with a botched bunker shot at the Par-4 35th hole. Unshaken, Piot calmly got up and down for par from behind the green, and forced his opponent to make an eight-foot birdie putt to keep the match going.
Greaser's putt lipped out, and the celebration began for Piot, who is the first player from the state of Michigan or player from Michigan State to win the most prestigious tournament in amateur golf.
“I still don’t believe I’m holding this trophy right now,” Piot said. “I still think I’m dreaming. It’s definitely something. Crazy. Internally, I felt like I had the ability to do it, but to actually do it, is the greatest thing ever.”
Michigan State golf coach Casey Lubahn was walking to the 18th hole, following Piot's misplayed initial bunker shot at the 35th hole. He knew from the roar of the crowd that Piot had sunk his lengthy putt for par, and also knew that there was a good chance that Greaser would miss his par putt, given the circumstances.
"I heard the roar, and kind of bullied my way to the front of the line at that point," Lubahn said. "From Austin's standpoint, what an incredibly difficult putt, eight feet, outside left, incredibly difficult to make. I kind of knew it was going to be the moment.
"I am not one that gets super emotional, but when you watch a kid live his dreams, why else do you get into coaching? That's exactly why you get into coaching."
It's difficult to know what might have happened if Piot had missed the match-clinching putt on the 35th hole, and Greaser had made his.
"That's a putt you think about the rest of your life," Lubahn said, "because you don't want to go down 18 ever (in that situation). It's a brutal hole, and to make him have to make that 8-footer to extend it was incredible."
After clinching victory, Piot was immediately mobbed by members of his family as well as temmates from the Michigan State men’s and women’s golf programs.
As the US Amateur Champion, Piot joins a group or remarkable golfers that includes legends of the game such as Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Phil Michelson. And by virtue of his victory, Piot will have earned invitations to play in three major championships in 2022 – the U.S. Open, The Masters, and The Open Championship.
Piot's Sunday march to a championship at Oakmont was memorable, if not unlikely.
Few golfers have managed to overcome as big a deficit with as few holes remaining as Piot did against Greaser -- a big hitter and an excellent putter.
Greaser, an Ohioan who grew up in Vandalia outside of Dayton, took a commanding 3-Up lead on the Par-4 27tth hole after a Piot bogey. Trailing by three holes with nine holes remaining, Piot began hitting fairways, and thus began to put pressure on his opponent.
As a result, Piot won four straight holes – 28, 29, 30, 31 – to regain the lead.
"I think we are all a product of our experiences," Lubahn said. "He's gotten knocked around, and he has had to scrap and claw to be an elite player. I think he had just had enough, and he was not going to let this be another disappointment."
Piot’s charge began on the first hole of the back nine, making a birdie after an accurate tee shot.
"It was just a good 9-iron swing," Lubahn said. "It's not rocket science. He makes a nice four-footer that broke outside the hole from right to left. After that, Austin, who is such a good player, gave him a break and he was off to the races."
He then made par on the very next hole, putting pressure on Greaser to make a tricky short downhill putt for par. Greaser missed, as Piot pulled within one hole of the Tar Heel.
Another par at the Par-5 30th brought the match even for Piot, who took 1-Up lead with a birdie after hitting a flawless tee shot to within 10 feet at the 177-yard Par-3 31st hole, as Greaser found the greenside bunker and failed to get up and down.
Piot took a commanding 2-Up lead with a par at the difficult 502-yard Par-4 33rd hole.
Piot led 1-Up at the end of 18 holes, but dropped three of his first four holes in the afternoon session. Trailing 2-Down, Piot had an opportunity to cut into Greaser’s lead on numerous occasions, but narrowly missed several makeable puts.
Greaser took a commanding 3-Up lead on the Par-4 27tth hole after a Piot bogey.
Piot and Greaser played a back-and-forth match in the morning. Trailing by a hole after Greaser birdied the Par-4 368-yard fifth, Piot won 9, 10, and 11 to take a 2-Up lead. The Michigan State senior won the ninth and tenth holes with respective pars before birdieing the 389-yard Par-4 11th.
Piot bogeyed the 642-yard Par-5 12th after finding a fairway bunker off the tee, enabling Greaser to win the hole with a par. Greaser tied the match with a birdie at the 14th and took a 1-Up lead after Piot bogeyed the 502-yard Par-4 15th.
Piot brought the match to even on the difficult 225-yard Par 3 16th, getting up-and-down out a bunker for par. Piot took a 1-UP lead with a par on the 497-yard Par 4 18th.
Piot advanced to the 36-hole final match with 1-UP win over Arizona State’s Cameron Sisk (Round of 64), a 4&3 win over UCLA’S Eddie Lai (Round of 32), a 4&3 win over UC Davis standout Thomas Hutchison (Round of 16), a 3&1 win over University of Charlotte’s Matt Sharpstene (quarterfinal), and a 4&3 win over North Florida’s Nick Grabelcik (semifinal).
Located outside of Pittsburgh, Oakmont Country Club is widely considered among the toughest courses in golf. Oakmont has hosted nine US Opens and six US Amateur Championships. Oakmont has also hosted four PGA Championships. Past winners at Oakmont include Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els and Dustin Johnson.
In 1962, at the age of 22, Nicklaus won his first major championship at Oakmont, defeating Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole Sunday playoff to win the U.S. Open. Nicklaus went on to win 18 major championship. Palmer, the son of a greenskeeper from Western Pennsylvania, made his first US Open appearance at Oakmont in 1953 and his final at Oakmont in 1994.
Now, Piot is forever connected to the legacy of Oakmont, and he still has one more year to play at Michigan State.
"He is apart of the incredible history of our game," Lubahn said. "I went through the names earlier, and all of the great names who have won here. It was like destiny that James Piot would win this week.
"How do you explain that? The only thing that explains it is hard work and belief. And he has some incredible people around him. His parents, his brother, his coach at home in Brian Crains, and for the first time in his life, James Piot believed he was one of the best players in the world."