Razorbacks golfer wins Southern Amateur title

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Razorback rising senior John Daly II carded a final-round 68 to win the 119th Southern Amateur with a 72-hole total of 278 (10-under par) last week at The Blessings Golf Club.

Also, Razorbacks Thomas Curry and Camden Smith tied for third, but Smith was officially awarded third place thanks to a scorecard playoff.

Daly finished with rounds of 70-71-69-68. Garrett Endicott took second (283/5-under par) while Curry and Smith each posted a 285 (3-under par) to finish in a four-way tie for third.

With the win, Daly earned a berth to the 125th United States Amateur Championship, which will be played August 11-17 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. He additionally joined the likes of previous Southern Amateur champions Bobby Jones, Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw, Bob Tway and Justin Leonard.

Daly has three straight top 15 finishes on the Elite Amateur Golf Series, placing third at the Northeast Amateur (64-68-71-73) and tied for 15th at the Trans-Mississippi Amateur (68-68-75-71).

Daly bogeyed his final hole of round three and entered the fourth and final round two shots off the lead. He opened the final round with a massive drive down the middle while the leader through three rounds, Endicott found the hazard off the first tee. Daly would par the opening hole and Endicott took a double to produce a 3-way tie for the lead. While Daly bogeyed the second hole, he rallied with birdies on holes Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 8 to take the lead.

Despite a bogey on 13, Daly birdied holes 16 and 17 to secure the win by five strokes over Endicott.

Smith, a junior who transferred from Georgia this summer, charged up the leaderboard over the final two days thanks to a score of 72 on Friday and matching Daly for the low round on Saturday with a 68, moving up 22 spots in the final round to earn the third-place medal.

In the third round, Smith aced the par-3, No. 8 for his fourth career hole-in-one. Then, on No. 10, he holed out from the fairway for another eagle. In the fourth round, Smith holed out from the fairway on the par-4, No. 9 for his third eagle of the championship. Smith turned in rounds of 72-73-72-68 for his 3-under 285.

Curry moved up four spots thanks to his evenpar round of 72 on Saturday. The rising junior from Texarkana, Ark., finished with rounds of 71-72-70-72 for his 3-under 285.