21 Oct 2023 | Amateur golf |
Guan leads big Australian challenge at Eisenhower Trophy
by Paul Munnings
The Australians will still have eyes on both the teams and individual trophies when the final round of the World Amateur Teams Championship is held at Abu Dhabi Golf Club tonight.
The hopes of Aussie Eisenhower Trophy silverware received a late boost in the third round when Sydney’s Jeffrey Guan birdied the final two holes to jump to a tie for second place, just one shot behind leader Gordon Sargent (USA), in the individual competition.
The surge also lifted his team into fourth position, five shots behind the Americans who have a four-stroke lead overall.
Guan recorded a 68 on day three to move to 11-under-par after 54 holes and into a group of six players looking to track down the well-credentialed Sargent in the final round.
Australia’s other team score contribution came from Jack Buchanan (71), while Karl Vilips dropped 17 places on the individual leaderboard to a tie for 23rd after a 73. At 6-under, he is six behind Sargent.
In the teams event, the only nations ahead of Australia at -19 are USA (-24) and Norway and France (-20).
Australian captain Dean Kenny said: “I think we’ve got a good team bond happening. It’s a very different event being that it’s a real team event and I think everybody loves that.
“We don’t play a lot of events that are true team events so if you can get the right culture amongst the group and you’re really pulling for each other, it makes it that much more exciting.”
USA is attempting to become the fifth wire-to-wire champion in Eisenhower Trophy history, and the first since 2012. The Americans have done so twice before in 2004 and 2012.