Victory for McGihon Has a Comeback Pattern to It

When Scott McGihon began to prepare for the final round of the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship, he had a familiar feeling.

He was five shots out of the lead and would be playing in the second-to-last group Sunday at Tijeras Creek Golf Course in Rancho Santa Margarita. McGihon recalled that when he won the tournament in 2000, he began the final round under the same circumstances.

The result was the same too. McGihon, a 37-year-old schoolteacher from Bermuda Dunes, shot four-under-par 68 Sunday for a four-round total of 279 and won by a shot over UC Irvine senior Brian Edick of Valencia and by two over Georgia Tech-bound Cameron Tringale, a recent graduate of Mission Viejo High.

“I must have thought back to the 2000 final round about 15 times [Sunday],” said McGihon, who is the 19th player in the 106-year history of the tournament to win two or more titles and also won the 2004 Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur Championship.

His birdie-birdie start Sunday offered a familiar, positive sign. When he overcame a five-shot deficit at Rancho Santa Fe Country Club in 2000, he started with birdies on the first two holes. Not everything, however, was the same as it was in 2000.

That year, McGihon built a four-shot lead by the 17th hole. Sunday, he was tied as he stood over his approach shot in the 17th fairway.

There were no scoreboards, so McGihon, who said he prefers not to know his standing in a tournament, stepped out of character and asked an official where he stood.

He then hit a nine-iron to within six feet of the hole and made what turned out to be a tournament-winning birdie putt.

“It was a tricky pin, and I was going to hit away from it if I had a lead,” McGihon said of his decision to ask about the situation on No. 17. “But since I was tied, I went right at it.”

Tringale led after the second and third rounds, but a front-nine 40 Sunday hurt his chances. Playing a group behind McGihon, he made consecutive birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 to tie for the lead before McGihon’s birdie at No. 17. He shot 74.

Edick, one group in front of McGihon, began the day six shots out of the lead and shot 67, tied for best round of the day, but made a costly bogey at No. 17 after he hit his tee shot into the right rough.

“I made the worst swing I made off the tee all weekend,” Edick said. “It hurts a lot to come up one shot short, but I can’t be too mad with a 67.”

McGihon’s victory continued a history of strong finishes in the SCGA Amateur. He has finished among the top 10 in seven of the last nine. Five of those, including a runner-up last year, were among the top four.

“There was more pressure this time because there were more people in the hunt,” said McGihon, who made birdies on all four par-fives.

“I knew I had to make good swings on 15, 16, 17 and 18, and it was fun to be able to do it.”