Jay Sigel

Jay Sigel, 39, of Berwyn, Pa., became the first golfer in 53 years to win two USGA championships in the same year when he won the Mid-Amateur Championship, at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Englewood, Colo. Sigel defeated Randy Sonnier of The Woodlands, Texas, 1 up, in the final.

Only Bob Jones, in 1930, and Charles Evans, Jr., in 1916, won two USGA competitions in the same year, each winning the Open and Amateur. Just 32 days earlier, before he won the Mid-Amateur, Sigel had won his second consecutive Amateur at the North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill. Sonnier and Larry Stubblefield of Kailua, Hawaii, were co-medalists, at 139, three under par.

In his first match, Sigel defeated Frank Brame of Alexandria, La., 3 and 1. After that, he disposed of Steve Rogers of Bowling Green, Ky., 7 and 6, and Stubblefield, 2 and 1, to enter the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. His opponent was Bob Lewis Jr. of Warren, Ohio, one of his U.S. Walker Cup and World Amateur teammates. Their match went 24 holes, tying the Mid-Amateur record.

Sigel holed a 35-foot putt on the sixth extra hole. That afternoon, Sigel defeated Craig Scheibert of Middletown, Ohio, 4 and 3, in a semifinal match. Bill Hoffer of Elgin, Ill., the defending Champion, lost in the second round to Mark Boyajian of Belleville, Ill., 4 and 3. Jim Holtgrieve of St. Louis, Mo., who won the inaugural Mid-Amateur in 1981, lost to Lewis in the third round, 2 and 1.

It is worth noting that Boyajian played the first nine holes of his first qualifying round in 29. This is believed to be the lowest nine-hole score ever shot in a USGA competition. He shot 67 for the round, 140 for the two days of qualifying, and eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Scheibert, on the 19th hole.

In an unusual championship final, the first 10 holes were halved, seven of them with pars and three with bogeys. Sigel broke the impasse by winning the 11th, a 577-yard par 5, by hitting a 2-iron to within 4 feet of the hole.

Sonnier, who still was not on the green with his fourth shot, conceded the eagle. They halved all but two of the remaining holes, with Sigel's 3-footer at the 18th deciding the issue after Sonnier had missed from 10 feet. The Mid-Amateur attracted a record 2,186 entries.