Bluffton S.C. – (July 16, 2017) University of North Florida golfer Philip Knowles is the 2017 Players Amateur champion. He beat Bluffton’s Bryson Nimmer on the second playoff hole on Berkeley Hall Club’s North Course.
Play was stopped for almost three and a half hours due to lightning storms. The remaining six groups finally resumed play at 4:19 pm.
Nimmer, a junior at Clemson, was on the 16th hole when play resumed. He birdied that hole and parred 17 then he missed the par putt on 18 to force a sudden death play-off with Knowles.
The playoff hole was #18. They both parred it the first time but Nimmer bogied the second. Knowles made his par putt for the win.
Knowles, from Bradenton, Florida, started the day four shots back and finished the round with seven birdies and no bogies. He told reporters it was the win of his career, “You dream of this. I started the day, I don’t know how many back, and you dream of going out there and playing one of the best rounds of your career.” He didn’t know he had just earned an exemption into the 2018 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing until his caddy told him, “I made the putt, I looked at him, and he says you just qualified for your first PGA TOUR event. I have no words. I am excited to come back.”
Nimmer grew up in Bluffton and had a large gallery of fans. Many of them were still with him as he spoke to reporters after the round, “This is my favorite tournament of the year. I enjoy being out here. Obviously, I love the course. I am looking forward to next year and hopefully I can do a little better.” Nimmer also told reporters that he works hard at always staying positive on the course, “I am setting a good example on the course, trying to have a good attitude no matter what. It makes it tough when things like that happen but I guess you have to keep going and keep pushing forward.”
Tournament scores can be found here:
https://playersam17.azurewebsites.net/Home/LeaderboardNew