For just the second time in USGA history, two international players from the same country advanced to a championship match. The fact that the competitors are from the Republic of Ireland in an event being conducted at Erin Hills – Erin is Gaelic for Ireland – made it all the more appropriate.
Matthew McClean, a 29-year-old optometrist from Belfast, will sleep on a 2-up lead over Hugh Foley, 25, of Dublin, halfway through the 36-hole championship match of the weather-delayed 41st U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. Due to heavy rains last Sunday – 4 inches fell at Erin Hills – the schedule was adjusted to have the second 18 of the final contested on Saturday morning, two days later than planned.
Normally in a 36-hole final, players take a lunch break between rounds. This year, the finalists returned to the same house – they are staying at the residence of Foley’s caddie, Dan Benedum – and likely chatted about their performance at dinner.
“I haven't played a 36-hole final before, so I don't know what it's like to play 36 holes in a final, either,” said McClean when asked about sleeping on a lead. “But it sort of feels like … the last round of stroke play; a similar sort of feeling as that.
“It's basically all square. That's the way I'm looking at it. We both have everything to play for tomorrow, so we'll probably talk a bit about it.”
This is the second consecutive year the U.S. Mid-Amateur final has been contested over two days. Heavy fog extended the championship to Friday at Sankaty Head Golf Club in Siasconset, Mass. In 1954, the U.S. Women’s Amateur final at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley, Pa., also was contested over consecutive days due to a thunderstorm.
Before Foley and McClean, two Canadians were the only players from the same foreign country to play for a USGA title. Judith Kyrinis defeated Terrill Samuel in the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur final at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore.
McClean and Foley are also the first male players from Ireland to reach a USGA final; Valerie Hassett lost in the 1998 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur championship match. Sometime before noon on Saturday, Foley or McClean will become the second Irish player to capture a USGA title in 2022, following Padraig Harrington at the U.S. Senior Open. Rory McIlroy (2011) and Graeme McDowell (2010), both from Northern Ireland, captured U.S. Open titles.
To reach the championship match, Foley eliminated Bryce Hanstad, of Edina, Minn., 3 and 2, on Friday morning while McClean defeated Josh Persons, of Fargo, N.D., by the same margin. Fog delayed the start of both matches by 20 minutes.
On Thursday, Persons, a past winner on PGA Tour Canada who was reinstated in 2018, had eliminated two-time and defending champion Stewart Hagestad, as well as 2014 titlist and 2016 runner-up Scott Harvey.
What makes this final unique is that Foley and McClean traveled to the U.S. together and are sharing a rental car and a house. Their friendship was forged through golf, but has grown beyond the course, despite the four-year age difference.
“Insane,” said Foley of them both reaching the final. “We’ve been planning this for months. We heard [defending champion] Stewart Hagestad, No. 8 in the world [ranking], we were like, ‘I don't know, will we make the cut?’ You're traveling all that way and hoping you don't miss the cut. Me and Matt have spent every second of the trip together.”
Added McClean: “I'd say we'll talk to each other a bit, but it won't be a social round of golf. I'm sure we'll work it out, but it'll be fun either way.”
Earlier this summer, Foley, No. 195 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®, edged McClean (No. 120) by two strokes to win the North of Ireland Men’s Open Amateur at Royal Portrush, shooting a pair of 68s on the weekend. Foley also won the South of Ireland Men’s Open Amateur at Lahinch, becoming the first to win both titles since Darren Clarke in 1990. Since then, he finished second in the Irish Closed Amateur and competed in a pair of European Challenge Tour events.
McClean represented Ireland in the recently completed World Amateur Team Championship and also lost a playoff in the Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship, finished third in the Brabazon Trophy (English Open Amateur Stroke Play) and sixth in the Lytham Trophy.
McClean surged ahead on the inward nine of Friday’s opening 18 with three consecutive birdies – all conceded – from No. 12 as he took advantage of some sloppy play from his opponent. Still, McClean called his 206-yard, 7-iron approach shot from thick rough on the 12th hole that stopped 6 feet from the flagstick one of the best of his career.
Foley regrouped on No. 16, making a 30-foot birdie putt on the par 3, only to see McClean match him with a 13-footer. But on the par-5 closing hole, Foley gained one back when McClean made a mess of the hole, hitting eight shots before conceding Foley’s long birdie from the fringe.
“It's nice,” said Foley of having more than a 12-hour break between rounds. “I'll kind of enjoy the break now because I felt like nothing was really going for me out there, so it's nice to stop it and maybe reset tomorrow. Hopefully it does reset tomorrow.
“I'm 2 down, so you get to become more of an underdog that way.”
In his morning semifinal match, Foley never trailed after winning three consecutive holes from No. 3. Three times, Hanstad, a consumer data analyst for a healthcare company who was a three-time All-Mountain West Conference performer at Colorado State, cut the deficit to two holes, but he could get no closer.
McClean and Persons each won three holes over the first seven of their semifinal match before the former pulled away by claiming four of the next five, including birdies on the par-3 ninth and par-4 10th and 11th holes.
What’s Next
The second 18 of the 36-hole final match will begin at 7 a.m. CDT. Spectators are encouraged to attend, and admission is free.
Notable
- Both finalists are exempt into the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. The champion earns an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles (Calif.) Country and a likely invitation to next April’s Masters Tournament, plus a 10-year U.S. Mid-Amateur exemption. The runner-up earns a three-year Mid-Am exemption.
- Each of the two semifinal losers, Bryce Hanstad and Josh Persons, received bronze medals and a two-year U.S. Mid-Amateur exemption. The 2023 championship is scheduled for Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, N.Y., followed by Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va., in 2024.
- Hole locations were changed between the semifinals and 36-hole championship match. The holes will remain the same for Saturday morning’s second 18.
- Hugh Foley met his caddie, 45-year-old Dan Benedum, through fellow U.S. Mid-Amateur competitor Daniel Connolly, and was invited, along with Matthew McClean, to stay at Benedum’s Colgate, Wis., home this week. Benedum, a financial advisor, and Connolly were partners in the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2015 at The Olympic Club.
- Gary Zeeman, who hosted Foley and McClean for a couple of days in Greater Chicago that included two rounds at Shoreacres Golf Club, a classic Seth Raynor design, was in attendance on Friday. The two Irishmen arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 5, two days after McClean finished competing in the World Amateur Team Championship in France. Ireland tied for 19th, and he finished T-76.
Quotable
“You try not to think about anything other than the shot you're playing, which is always easier said than done. It's trying just to play each hole, and not think at all in advance.” – Matthew McClean when asked about the difficulty of blocking out the 2023 U.S. Open exemption and likely Masters invitation that goes to the champion
“My pace putting was … I don't know about the Stimp[meter], but I would say this morning was 12 and a half to 13 [feet], and all of a sudden it felt like 14 there as it dried up [in the afternoon]. It felt crazy fast.” – Hugh Foley on struggling with his pace on the greens
“I just didn't feel crisp today. I don't know if I ran out of energy or what, but not quite sharp today, which is a little disappointing. It's been an incredible week.” – Bryce Hanstad
“It was a long week. I had a lot of fun. I loved playing against all these guys, good golfers, great golf course. I wish I would have played a little bit better today, but that happens.” – Josh Persons
David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org. Brian DePasquale, a senior manager of championship communications, contributed to this article.
The Social Scene
Good luck lads! Following along 💪🏻☘️ https://t.co/TmZ1wBzsMj
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) September 16, 2022
'It's going to be weird. We've played each other a few times. We had great matches. I know how good a player he is. 36 holes, going to be weird but fun.'#USMidAm LET'S GO ☘️🇺🇸@USGA https://t.co/JQqWFHCQ2Q
— Golf Ireland (@GolfIreland_) September 16, 2022
2 of the finest players in the country. Well done Hugh & Matt 👏🏻👏🏻 🇮🇪🇮🇪#USMidAm
— Jay Rackard (@jayrackard) September 16, 2022
Change the Spotted Cow tappers! It’s an Irish takeover @ErinHillsGolf as Matthew McClean joins Hugh Foley in the 36-hole final of the #USMidAm! pic.twitter.com/ZdeSn3CWpU
— Rob Hernandez (@RobHernandezGLF) September 16, 2022
