GREENSBURG — Nico Ward’s fist pump following his final putt of the day was part enthusiasm and part a sigh of relief. And it ended up being a massively important 15-footer.
Ward, a rising junior at West Allegheny High School, shot a 4-under score of 68 to claim Co-Low Scorer honors alongside two others in Ethan Yao and Spencer Shropshire, clinching a spot in the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in Thursday's qualifying round at Totteridge Golf Course.
“I hit the ball amazing,” said Ward, a member of Team Pennsylvania, who orchestrated just his second-ever bogey-free round. “The driver was probably the best thing in my game today. I had a lot of good putts, too. No three-putts. I was happy about that.”
Entering the ninth hole — his final of the day — Ward sat at 4-under, alone atop the leaderboard. He found the fairway with his drive, but pushed his approach shot deep into the right green side bunker.
“I just blocked it right, which is not ideal there,” he said. “I hit an okay bunker shot. But then I had my best putt of the day, by far.”
His shot from the sand rested about 15 feet beyond the hole, setting up a right-to-left breaking putt, which dropped in the center of the cup.
“It just drifted in,” said Ward, who threw out an emphatic fist pump. “ I showed a lot of emotion. I looked (at the leaderboard) on the eight hole and figured that if I just parred out, I would hopefully not have a playoff. It ended up that way.”
But that end of it became a bit out of Ward’s control. Ward, New York native Yao and Shropshire, a Canadian, all sat at 4-under, while Ohio native Silas Kirkpatrick surged into the lead at 5-under.
If those scores had held, Ward, Yao and Shropshire would have been sent into a playoff for the final two qualifying spots. But when Kirkpatrick bogeyed the final two holes, it gave the trio their tickets to the U.S. Junior Amateur.
“I went to the clubhouse and a couple of my boys from school were in there,” said Ward. "I went to the putting green when I saw that there were a lot of guys at 4-under. I got the news and was pretty happy.”
Ward, who plays out of Montour Heights Country Club, has felt his game trending towards such a strong performance.
“I've been playing pretty good the last couple of months,” he said. “I’m pretty happy with it, especially in a very crucial point of the year.”
Kirkpatrick earned the first alternate spot, while Virginia native Owen Love was the second alternate.
Ward, Yao and Shropshire advance to the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, to be contested at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from July 20-25.
It’s the second straight year that the qualifying round at Totteridge saw a Western Pennsylvanian earn a spot, as fellow Team Pennsylvania member Carson Kittsley qualified a year ago.
“I’ve seen a whole bunch of stuff about it in like Golf Digest,” said Ward. “I’ve heard it’s pretty surreal, so I’m excited for that. Carson said it was amazing, that it was the best tournament of all-time. So, I’m excited.”
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