Optometrist Matthew McClean wins all-Irish final at 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur, earns spot in 2023 U.S. Open
It was an all-Irish final at the 41st U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. In the end, it was Matthew McClean knocking out Hugh Foley, 3 and 1, on Saturday.
McClean, 29, an optometrist from Belfast, is just the second international golfer to win a U.S. Mid-Amateur. He’s also the second Irishman in 2022 to win a U.S. Golf Association championship, following Padraig Harrington, who won the U.S. Senior Open in June.
“Yeah, fantastic,” said McClean. “Sort of probably hasn’t sunk in just yet. It’s been a very long week, but I’m sure once we sort of sit down this evening, it’ll sort of sink in a wee bit more, but yeah, it’s unbelievable really.”
The win earned McClean a nice batch of prizes: a gold medal, custody of the Robert T. Jones Memorial Trophy for one year, exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships, an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Open (which will be at The Los Angeles Country Club) as well as exemptions into the 2023 and 2024 U.S. Amateurs. He has also earned a likely invitation to the 2023 Masters Tournament.
The 36-hole final was more than simply the end of the competition; it also marked the conclusion of a long journey for McLean and Foley, who traveled to the U.S. together, departing Dublin on Sept. 5, sharing rental cars and housing along the way. Their host in Colgate, Wisconsin, was Dan Benedum, who ended up as Foley’s caddie. Benedum’s friend Jack Enea, meanwhile, was on the bag for McClean.
McClean took a 5-up lead with six holes to play after draining an 8-footer for birdie on the par-4 30th hole but Foley won the next three holes to tighten things up.
A lipped-out putt from 30 feet on the 34th hole kept McClean from clinching but he won the title on the next hole after Foley missed the green and failed to get up and down.
“I made a late charge there, decent back nine,” said Foley. “But he held up great with those pars there at the finish. He deserved it today.”
McClean entered the week ranked 120th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, while Foley was 195th. They both raised their hopes of representing Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup Match on the Old Course at St. Andrews in September.
Defending champion Stewart Hagestad was knocked out in the Round of 16 by Josh Persons.
Future U.S. Mid-Amateur sites
2023: Sleepy Hollow Country Club, Scarborough, New York
2024: Kinloch Golf Club, Manakin-Sabot, Virginia
2025: Troon Country Club, Scottsdale, Arizona
2030: Bel-Air Country Club, Los Angeles
