Adam Sumrall of South Bend qualified as the 31st seed at the IGA Match Play Championship by fending off eight fellow competitors in a 6-hole playoff Tuesday. Ten players shot 75 to tie for the last two spots – Sumrall held on until the sixth hole and made par to advance. It was the longest playoff of his young career, but well worth it.
Friday morning he defeated defending champion and top seed Eric Steger of Noblesville 2 & 1 at Prairie View GC. “I knew I had to play well today, and we both got off to a great start,” said Sumrall, who was 2 under through 3. “We went back and forth all day, but I made putts to keep it going. I got rather lucky.”
Sumrall developed back problems in March and has played less this summer than any summer in the past, so six rounds in four days was quite a feat. But he didn’t admit any physical fatigue, just that the 20 hole match against Brodie Williams of Lapel was mentally grueling. His other victories on the way to the final included defeating Andrew Wegeng of Avon 3 & 2, Cory Ziedonis of Indianapolis 1 up and Alex Stinson of Anderson 1 up. “2 & 1 feels like quite a big victory after this week,” said Sumrall.
Sumrall found success with match play at the Boys State Junior when he won at the age of 16, and once at the US Junior when we won his first match to get to the round of 32. “I learned a lot about match play at the US Junior,” he explained.
Next on his schedule is the US Amateur qualifier before returning to Duke to play his sophomore year.
See complete results here.