Closing flourish gives Cheng Jin 3-shot lead at Players Amateur

If anyone is going to catch Cheng Jin in the final round of The Players Amateur, he’d best find a way to do it early.

The Chinese golfer not only eased away from his competition to open a three-shot lead heading into Monday’s final round at Berkeley Hall, but he has dominated the back nine of the club’s South course this week.

Sunday brought three birdies in Jin’s final seven holes. He rallied for a 3-under-par 69 to turn what had been a tight three-man race with Bluffton’s Bryson Nimmer and Australia’s Anthony Quayle at the turn into a back-nine stroll.

“Things worked out good for me today,” said Jin, who completed three rounds at 11-under 205, the only man to reach double digits on a third consecutive day of steamy temperatures.

“I kind of struggled on the front nine and they played really well on the front nine. I think that’s just golf. Everybody has good times and bad times.”

It certainly flipped the tables on Nimmer and Quayle, who shared the lead at the turn only to see their games fray on the inward nine.

Nimmer bogeyed four times in his final seven holes, including short par saves at Nos. 11-12 that opened the door for Jin to move in front. Quayle struggled even more, with four bogeys and a double bogey in a back-nine 41.

“That’s golf. It happens,” said Nimmer, whose 73 on his home course left him five shots off Jin’s pace, now tied for fourth with Australia’s Travis Smyth.

Davis Riley, who just completed his freshman season at Alabama, moved into second after a bogey-free 69 on Sunday. His total of 208 was one stroke ahead of Vanderbilt golfer Patrick Martin (70).

“I struck it really well, made a few putts. No big mistakes or anything,” Riley said. “I’m not putting myself in tough positions. I’m leaving myself with reasonable birdie chances – two-putt at worst. Make a few here and there, and I’m keeping a steady pace.”

A total of 35 golfers made the cut of 2-over 218 to advance to the final round. Tee times Monday begin at 7 a.m., with players sent off the first tee in twosomes. Jin and Davis were scheduled for a 9:50 a.m. start.

“I’ll just try to focus on my own game,” Jin said. “Be patient and play my best.”

All week, Jin’s best has come after the turn. He is the only man still without a bogey on the South layout’s back nine, playing those holes in a combined 8-under par.

More specifically, all the damage this week has come in the final seven holes, which starts with the par-5 12th and the drivable par-4 14th.

“I’ve hit a lot of greens,” said Jin, an incoming freshman at Southern California who participated in the Masters last April. “That’s one of the good parts in my game. I don’t hit a bunch of fairways, but I try to not miss too many.”

Jin’s short birdie at No.12, combined with Nimmer’s bogey, created a two-shot swing that pushed Jin to the front for the duration.

Nimmer also was looking at birdie after pitching within 4 feet. However, a poor first putt led to a comebacker that took a hard lipout. That dropped the Clemson golfer to 8-under for the week, while Jin moved to 9-under.

Another short miss at No.13 dropped Nimmer two shots back and effectively took the wind out of his sails. Though he birdied No.14 after nearly driving the green, a bogey/bogey finish left him lamenting a “miserable” final two hours.

“My putter just kind of let me down,” he said. “Then I made two mental mistakes on (Nos.) 17 and 18 – just kind of let (things) get to me on those two holes where I messed up previous. It was hard to rally.”

This story was originally published July 10, 2016 at 8:28 PM with the headline "Closing flourish gives Cheng Jin 3-shot lead at Players Amateur."