07 Oct 2019 | Amateur golf |
Trent shines all week in Vegas
by Martin Blake
Australian amateur Jack Trent has completed a career-changing week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children tournament in Las Vegas by finishing with four rounds in the 60s.
Not even a double bogey from the water at the 72nd hole could dampen the enthusiasm for Queensland Trent, who was making his PGA Tour debut this week in his adopted hometown.
Closing with a 68 he finished at 14-under par, having momentarily moved into the top 10 on the final day before his disappointing finish. By the time he signed he was just inside the top 30 and he ended up finishing tied-29th.
Trent’s story, first revealed on Inside The Ropes podcast last week, was extraordinary; he earned his spot in the field by winning a big amateur tournament in Vegas in March, and was stunned to have Adam Scott, one of his idols, offer to play a practice round with him.
Trent grew up on the Sunshine Coast but left with his family in his teens and studied at high school in America before moving on to UNLV, where he is a junior and a member of the college golf team.
He will be back playing college golf by this week, but the week in Vegas will stay with him for a long time.
“It means a lot to me,” he told the television broadcaster after today’s round. “It (Vegas) is kind of like my new hometown after moving from Australia. So, a lot of familiar faces … I was a member here for a year-and-a-half, so seeing familiar faces, family and friends, it means so much to me. And to put up a good performance for them, I guess, makes it all worthwhile.”
Trent’s meeting with Scott this week has been another highlight.
“It was funny, because the first time I met him I was like 10 years old, about half his size, asking for his autograph,’’ he said.
“Now I’m looking eye-to-eye, playing with him and hitting shots with him. It’s what I’ve been dreaming about for a very long time. For it to be here finally kind of makes me think time’s moving pretty quick. But it’s cool. I like it.”
Meanwhile Cameron Smith raced home with a 65 today to finish tied-13th, best of the Aussies.
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