Tyler Cozad, a two-time champion entering the final round was the first round leader but found himself trailing by 2 with 18 holes to go. That deficit would become 3 after the 6th hole and back to 2 and then back to 3 after both the 13th and 14th. That’s when things began to change. Cozad birdied the par 4 15th to cut the lead back to 2. Than, on 16, he birdied again and, even though Mike Wolfe salvaged a bogey after hitting his tee shot ob left, they two were tied with 2 holes to go. Up to that point Wolfe did not relinquish the lead, posting 3 birdies and 2 bogies through 15 holes.

With the shock giving up a lead that he held since the 6th hole in round two, Wolfe hit an errant tee shot on Lake Shore’s narrow 17th. He was close to ob again but escaped that by just inches. He was, however, left with nearly 220 yards through some trees and then needing to clear the ravine and skirt the tall trees on the left. His shot was well struck but hooked a bit, striking leaves and branches in the trees in the ravine, his ball ultimately succumbing to the hazard. With Cozad down the middle and then onto the front of the green, the lead was about to changed. When Wolfe was unable to save bogey from the drop area Cozad made an easy par and moved 2 up on Wolfe.

However, Wolfe was no longer the nearest chaser, that was now Drew Deimel, who, with birdies on 13 and 16 and a fabulous par save on 17 was now just one back. The other chaser throughout the round was Evan Rowane. His birdie on 16 moved him to 4 under for the day and 3 under total, also just one back. Playing 2 groups in front of the leaders, he too found troubles on 17 and made a double and then finished with a bogey to end tied with Shaunak Rama for 5th. Rama shot 69.

That set the stage for the leaders on the par 3 18th. For the final round the distance was a mere 99 yards with the pin tucked perilously close to the edge of the ravine on the right side. Cozad hit his tee shot to the back of the green, leaving himself a long downhill put. Deimel went far left of the pin and Wolfe hit it in about 10 feet. There seemed to be a few tie scenarios but when Cozad lagged is first putt to tap in distance, Wolfe was eliminated and Deimel faced a 40 footer to tie. Both players made par leaving Deimel 1 stroke short and Wolfe two back. Wolfe ended up tied for third with Alex Weir who shot 71.  Weir, who finished runner up in the last two Amateurs played his way out early in the round with a bogey on 1 and a double on 3.  Through 6 holes he was 6 strokes behind. He chipped away with birdies on 8 and 9 then added another on 13 and then birdied 18 to forge the tie for 3rd.

The low round of the day went to the 2017 Match Play Champion Sean Sculley. He offset 4 birdies with 2 bogies on the front and then toured the back in 3-under 33 to close with 67. Sculley used a 3-3 finish in round 2 to make the cut on the number. His round of 67 was good enough to move him up to T8 with the 2017 Amateur Champion Patrick Kelly. Kelley and Rama had the second lowest rounds of the day with 69. 2022 Match Play Champion Matt Barto bounced back after a slow start to card 72 and finish lone 7th. The final player in the top 10 was the 2020 Amateur Champion Ted Grassi, III. It was Grassi’s 14th top 10 in the Am.

With 3 titles, Cozad joins Tom Amendola, Brett Kieffer, Ron Coleman, Austin Romeo and Tim Dunlavey. Ellery Tarbell remains as the only player with 4 wins in the stroke play era.

The top 15 earned a prize. All prizes are available in the Lake Shore pro shop.

Complete results.