RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico – On the strength of Garrett Rank’s 69 (-2), the Canadian contingent climbed inside the Top-10 for the first time in Saturday’s final round of the 30th World Amateur Team Championship to close the tournament in a tie for ninth at 12-under par.
Playing on the Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club, Rank, 29, led the Canadian trio to a team score of 2-under par on the day, coupled with Jared du Toit’s even-par 71. Collectively, Rank was the leading Canadian at the event. The Elmira, Ont., product finished at 1-under par (74-72-70-69) to hold an individual share of 35th.
Kimberley, B.C., native Jared du Toit finished two strokes behind Rank at 1-over par (71-70-75-71). The 21-year-old Arizona State senior closed at T44. Teammate Hugo Bernard of Mont-St-Hilaire, Que., was disqualified because of a scoring error in his final round.
“Our guys gave it their best this week and I’m proud of the fight they put up to get inside the Top-10,” said Ingram of the Canadian squad, who stood tied for 27th following Wednesday’s opening round. “An unfortunate mistake with Hugo’s scoring, but we’ll look at it as a learning experience for everyone.”
Australia extended their commanding lead, closing with a final-round team score of 6-under to win the tournament at a record score of 38-under par, 19 strokes ahead of runner-up England. The victory marks the fourth time Australia has come out on top at the World Amateur.
Austria and Ireland rounded out the top-3, sharing third place honours at 18-under par.
Australia’s Cameron Davis was the lone player to tally four rounds in the 60s, earning him medalist honours at 17-under par, with teammate Curtis Luck finishing second at 15-under.
A biennial competition, the World Amateur Team Championship has been played since 1958, with the winner taking home the Eisenhower Trophy. The United States won the 2014 title in Karuizawa, Japan, by two strokes over the Canadian contingent of Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.), Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.).
In 28 appearances at the World Amateur Team Championship, Canada has captured the Eisenhower Trophy on one occasion (1986) and earned runner-up honours five times.
Click here for full scoring.