Saturday's Championship Notes    

Brian Harman ’s 5-and-4 victory over Jordan Cox is the largest margin of defeat in the finals since Gary Koch defeated Mike Nelms, 8 and 6, in 1970. It is also the first time in the 56 years of the Junior Amateur that 5 and 4 was the final tally and is the fifth-largest margin of defeat ever in the finals.  

Largest margins of victory in Junior Amateur finals history:  

1970 - Gary Koch def. Mike Nelms, 8 & 6

1957 – Larry Beck def. David Leon, 6 & 5

1968 – Eddie Pearce def. W.B. Harman Jr. , 6 & 5

1949 – Gay Brewer def. Mason Rudolph , 6 & 4  

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In the final Harman was one under par through 14 holes, while Cox was four over par over the same stretch.  

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With this win Harman not only gains the title of U.S. Junior champion, but an exemption into this year’s U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, Pa., this August and next year’s Amateur at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.   Harman will also be exempt from local qualifying for next year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.  

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Prior to this year’s championship at Columbia Country Club, three previous Junior Amateurs were contested in Maryland.  In all three finals, the winners won by big margins.  At the second Junior in 1949, Gay Brewer defeated Mason Rudolph, 6 and 4, at Congressional Country Club.  In 1957, Larry Beck defeated David Leon, 6 and 5, at the Manor Country Club in Rockville, and in 1971 Mike Brannan defeated Robert Steele, 4 and 3, again at Manor Country Club.  

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It may be appropriate that the left-handed Harman won the 56th Junior Amateur at Columbia Country Club.  Since 1941 Columbia has held a left-handed tournament for its members.  The Christian Heurich Trophy is awarded to the left-hander who wins the early summer event.  The trophy was donated by the owners of the Heurich Brewery in Washington D.C.  

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Harman’s toughest match came in his first match when it took him 20 holes to defeat Justin Hull.  Harman won the 12th hole to bring the match back to all square, but after Harman took a 1-up lead on the 14th, Hull squared the match on the next hole and the competitors were tied until Harman parred the 20th hole for the victory.  

In the following five matches Harman would never trail past the fifth hole and had a streak of 27 holes when he didn’t trail, from the fifth hole in his second match to the second hole in the quarterfinals.  Over the 30 holes of the semifinals and finals matches, Harman would only trail for one hole and never trailed over the last 26 holes.  

Harman trailed on only 12 holes over the total 98 holes he played in winning the championship.  He also only trailed once by two holes – when he went 2 down on the third hole to Zach Bixler in the second-round match. Harman won the next four holes to go 2 up and never trailed Bixler again.  

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In getting to the finals, Cox played in five matches and never trailed in three of them – his 4-and-3 second-round victory over Stephen Walton; third-round 5-and-4 win over Philip Francis; and the 4-and-3 semifinal victory over James Sacheck .  

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Like Harman, Cox’s most difficult match was in the first round, when it took Cox 21 holes to defeat Nicholas Park.  Cox held the lead for just one hole before winning on the 21st hole, while Park had the lead on eight holes. After the first round Cox trailed on only one hole until the final match, when he lost the par-3 4th hole in the quarterfinals, but got it back in the next hole.