Harrison Endycott fed his happy knack of winning today, charging home for a remarkable Porter Cup victory in Lewiston, New York.
The 20-year-old Sydneysider was still four strokes behind New York’s Gavin Hall through 11 holes as the pair romped away from the field in what was effectively a two-man shootout.
After starting the day four strokes adrift, Endycott quickly whittled down the lead when the left-handed American bogeyed the 12th, then himself birdied the 13th and 14th holes.
But the real turning point came on the par-three 16th at Niagara Falls Country Club when the Golf Australia national squad member took the lead for the first time with a huge birdie roll as Hall took a bogey four.
Tension was high around the final green of the par-three 18th when Endycott blasted his tee shot over the green and faced a treacherous flop shot with Hall inside 4m for a birdie that had the potential to wrestle back the lead.
But with nerves of steel honed in a remarkable winning stretch this year, Endycott flopped to 2.5m, watched Hall miss, then calmly stroked home the winning putt in the 58th edition of the event previously won by such superstars as major champions Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Ben Crenshaw.
It has been a remarkable 2016 for Endycott, which began with a rare loss – to no less than the eventual champion Connor Syme – in the quarter-finals of the Australian Amateur in Melbourne, he won the Lake Macquarie Amateur the following week.
Two weeks later, he defended the Avondale Cup title at his home club, then returned to Victoria and won the time-honoured Riversdale Cup before claiming the South Australian Classic at Royal Adelaide, all inside two months.
He then played a key role in New South Wales’ victory at the Interstate Series in Brisbane before heading to Britain and the United States to keep his roll going.
He won low amateur honours at US Open sectional qualifying in England and had a joint runner-up finish at the Players Amateur in South Carolina earlier this month, meaning Endycott’s world amateur ranking will likely climb inside the top 15 this week after his impressive closing 66 today to close at 14 under.
Endycott's NSW teammates Travis Smyth and Austin Bautista each fired one-under-par 69s today to finish at -1 (T11) and +5 (T38), respectively.