Ryan Leahey Shooting for Match Play at U.S. Amateur

Ryan Leahey expected Erin Hills Golf Course to play tough.  

However, growing up frequenting the Course at Yale in New Haven, the Orange, CT native felt he would have an advantage on the field at the U.S. Amateur Monday afternoon in Erin, WI.

“I thought Erin Hills would play a lot like Yale, which was my home course for about 12 years,” Leahey said. “It has a lot of fescue rough like this course and a lot of bunkers similar in style to here, so I thought I (would be comfortable).”

But three missteps on his front nine (the course’s back nine), including a pair of bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, left Leahey wondering what might have been after a 4-over par 76.

“I kind of got flustered there on my front nine,” Leahey said. “I hit a lot of good shots but I wasn’t making any putts.”

Leahey righted the ship with back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, but the turnaround was a case of a little too late.

“It was going to be fun out there today regardless of what I shot,” Leahey said. “But it certainly helped making those birdies coming in on six and seven because I didn’t throw myself out of making the match play competition.”

Today (Aug. 23), Leahey shifts over to Blue Mound Country Club. He hopes the change will favor his game.

“If you can play Yale, you can play anywhere,” Leahey said. “Even if you played it every day you get a different shot on every hole.”

At this point even par would put him in a playoff for a spot in the 64-player match play field, leaving Leahey with his work cut out for him. If he makes the cut, head-to-head competition starts Wednesday, and continues until a 36-hole final match at Erin Hills on Sunday.