What Arlington Heights' Doug Ghim did at the Masters was very special
Maybe a tie for 50th place doesn't sound great — even if it came in golf's hallowed Masters tournament.
Maybe a 74-74 finish in the weekend rounds and an 8-over 296 for the 72 holes wasn't worthy of much wild cheering at Augusta National.
Make no mistake, though. What Doug Ghim did over four days in the first major golf championship of the year was something special.
Very special.
Rarely do 21-year olds still in college get invited to the Masters. Ghim did via one of the last invitation criteria. He was the runner-up in last year's U.S. Amateur at Riviera, a California course that has almost as rich a history as Augusta National.
Ghim, a Buffalo Grove graduate from Arlington Heights, lost the U.S. Amateur title to a younger Doc Redman in sudden death at Riviera. but Redman didn't beat Ghim in the Masters. Neither did the other four amateurs in the field. Just getting to the Masters was a major accomplishment.
Only two other Illinois amateurs did it in the last 35 years, and neither of them made the cut, much less contend for the coveted trophy given annually to the low amateur.
Ghim departed Sunday with much more hardware than that. He also picked up crystal glasses for making 3 eagles.
Every player who makes an eagle at the Masters gets a nice prize from the club. The most eagles made by one player in any Masters is 4, and Ghim had his sights on that target entering Sunday's final round.
He didn't break the record, but he did have a spectacular finish, holing a bunker shot for birdie on his last hole of the tournament.
The rousing finish capped a week in which Ghim finally earned the attention lacking during much of his amateur career.
The low profile was partly Ghim's fault. He played only one year of high school golf at Buffalo Grove and left Illinois for Texas for college golf. Most all of his pre-college tournaments were national junior events held around the country.
As a result, Ghim didn't get the attention of pro tournament organizers when they were handing out sponsor exemptions to worthy amateurs. The Masters, in fact, was Ghim's first PGA Tour event, and he got through it without a veteran caddie's guidance. His father (and swing coach) Jeff was on his bag.
Those unusual circumstances led to Golfweek magazine asking Ghim to write a daily blog off his experiences.
While recounting the eagles was part of that writing exercise, the highlight was his third-round pairing with Bernhard Langer, a two-time Masters winner who has dominated the Champions Tour in recent years.
“I've played with so many nice people this week, and they really didn't need to be,” Ghim wrote. “But Mr. Langer may have been the nicest guy that I've played with all week. He's a very classy individual. He really appreciates good golf, and I could tell he appreciated my efforts as an amateur.”
Langer even raked a bunker for Ghim.
“A Masters champion is raking your footprints. That was the funny highlight of the day,” Ghim wrote.
Ghim, who turns 22 next week, regretted missing the Western Intercollegiate tournament to play in the Masters. His Longhorns' teammates have their biggest events still ahead, however.
That's how he looked at it while accepting his trophy Sunday with overall champion Patrick Reed in the traditional presentation ceremony in Butler Cabin, which adjoins the Augusta National course.
“Now I'd like to help my team to a national championship, like Patrick Reed did twice (when he was attending Augusta State, a powerhouse located in the same Georgia town as Augusta National),” Ghim said.
Ghim figures to delay turning pro at least until after June's U.S. Open. He has an exemption to that event, as well, off his U.S. Amateur showing.
Very soon after that Ghim will join the professional ranks where his chances of success seem very good. Matching the excitement of being low amateur in his first Masters, though, will be hard to beat.
“That is probably the most honorable thing that I've done as a golfer,” he said. “I've had the opportunity to play on a Walker Cup team, a Palmer Cup team, on a national championship with my (Texas) team and finish second at the U.S. Amateur, but to be (in the Masters) and play against the best players in the world is definitely a confidence boost moving forward.”
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Masters memories
Some highlights of Arlington Heights native Doug Ghim's week at the Masters:
Silver Cup: Earned this Masters trophy for being the low amateur at the tournament. It also earned him a trip to the closing ceremony at the famous Butler Cabin.
Six crystal goblets: Earned two goblets for each of his three eagles (two Friday, one on Saturday). The Masters record is four eagles. Ghim is the first amateur since 1959 to record three eagles at the tournament.
Bragging rights: Became the first amateur golfer from Illinois to make the 36-hole cut at the Masters.
Final shot: He finished the tourney by chipping in from a bunker for a birdie on the 18th hole. It was his 10th birdie of the 72-hole tournament.
Source: PGA.com