South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht picked up the Silver Medal for the leading amateur after being the only non-professional to make it through to the weekend.
The big-hitting Amateur champion actually had a share of the lead after the first day, opening up with a 66, but his Friday was a very different affair. There were seven birdies on Thursday but none on day two and he had to dig deep over the back nine to squeeze into the weekend.
In the end he shot a 79, which was followed by rounds of 76-74, for a final total of +11.
"I told my caddie on Saturday that it's been a week with every bit of emotion felt, kind of coming off a high on Thursday and just not having it the last three days. I felt like kind of in control of the ball not nearly as well as I wanted to or as I know I can be. It was a little bit disappointing, but obviously standing here being the last amateur standing and getting the Silver Medal this afternoon, yeah, it puts a smile back on my face," explained Lamprecht.
"There's a lot of things to take away from but it's nice to know that my good golf is good enough to compete with anyone in the world, and that's something really nice to take away from this week and kind of motivates me to keep on playing better golf and keep on practising."
The South African played with his mentor Louis Oosthuizen on the first two rounds and finished his week playing with another Major champion, Danny Willett, and it was another big learning curve.
"Danny is a really funny guy. I had a blast with him out there. I laughed at him a lot. I think just the way they kind of manage themselves on the course and how they play and how smart they play. I just think there's a lot of consistency, and I think that was definitely lacking for me this week. My consistency was definitely not there this week, it was kind of all over the place swing-wise."
Otherwise Jose Luis Ballester Barrio added a 74 to sit on five over and that was the only threat to Lamprecht. Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira of Argentina, the winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship in January, was playing in his third Major this week and he would finish on seven over after a much-improved 72.
"The experience was amazing. I think I keep learning a lot. I got off to a really bad start on Thursday and then after that it was all just a matter of grinding and trying to give myself birdie opportunities to bring it back to closer to the cut line.
"But it was a great experience. I keep learning what's good for me, what's not good for me, and hope to be back. Playing in all these Majors were a valuable experience and I know better what I need to be better. Just to tee it up against the best is where I want to be the next. The LAAC for us is huge, just being able to be here and be at the Masters and being at the US Open was amazing."
Germany’s Tiger Christensen, one of the last players to complete his second round, shot 77-74 to finish on nine over.
Ireland’s Alex Maguire, a member of Laytown and Bettystown GC, was another who was unable to find a birdie, recording an 80, to turn a one-over aggregate into a blank weekend.
Finally, Harrison Crowe of Australia was another to shoot 80 to finish on +14.
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