Proud papa cheers Chung to victory

Chris Chung packed his bags and waited at an airport.

Several states away, his son David packed his "A" game, to reference a fellow Stanford product who's good at golf, and waited all week to accomplish what he set out to do at historic Skokie Country Club.

And when David Chung was presented the George R. Thorne trophy for winning the 108th Western Amateur on a sun-splashed Saturday in Glencoe, his father sat in a white chair in the front row, multi-tasking.

The proud father looked every bit of a tourist with a sun hat on his head, sunscreen smeared all over his face and a large camera bag on his lap. With his right hand, he took pictures of his son. With his left hand, he used his iPhone to videotape the whole experience.

Chris Chung had flown to Chicago from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina on Friday night to watch his son.

"He had booked a flight," David Chung said. "He was sitting at the airport, waiting to get news on whether I'd made it to (Saturday). My sister was refreshing the Internet. Apparently, I won with three minutes left to board. He was like, 'Why did you take so long?' "

Son's response?

"I said, 'It's not that easy out here.' "

David Chung nearly made it look easy. He won a pair of match-play competitions Friday and duplicated the feat Saturday, besting Arizona State product Chan Kim in 19 holes in the semifinals and then UCLA junior Gregor Main 2 and 1 in the final.

Main was attempting to win after needing to prevail in a playoff earlier in the week to secure a top-16 spot. He also needed 19 holes to win his semifinal, over Australian Kieran Pratt.

A junior at Stanford, Chung rallied from being down 2 to Main after five holes. Chung sank a 25-foot birdie putt - his longest of the day - on No. 14 to go 1 up. On No. 15, both players drove the 320-yard par-4. But Chung made birdie, while Main settled for bogey after his drive rolled through the green.

A sand save for par on the 17th secured Chung's win.

"This is awesome. It's totally surreal," Chung said. "It's definitely the biggest tournament I've won."

Modestly built at 5-feet-9 and 160 pounds, Chung showed an ability all week to hit the ball long and accurately. He's rare among young players in that he swings a long putter.

"His swing is just really solid and he just doesn't make mistakes," Main said. "He rolls that long putter pretty well."

Chung credited his swing coach, Adam Schriber, for his recent success, which also includes winning the Porter Cup the previous week.

In his morning match with Kim, he purposely drove the ball in the adjacent first fairway on No. 18, fearing a drive down the 18th fairway would roll into the pond near the green. He then stuck his approach tight and won the hole to extend the match.

A perk for Stanford golfers is getting to meet some former Cardinal greats, including Tiger Woods. Chung said he's had dinner twice along with teammates and coaches at Woods' house.

Like Woods, Chung is now a Western Am champ. Not that Chung is going to text-message the superstar, who's had a rough time on and off the golf course in the last year.

"I don't have his number," Chung said with a smile. "Not a good time for him, I don't think."