Calgary's Mike Knight (above) topped San Juan Capistrano's Cameron Tringale to win the 41st Pacific Coast Amateur Championship at San Diego CC. (Robert D. Thomas/SCGA)

By Robert D. Thomas
Mike Knight knew he was in trouble. He had just butchered the 11th hole and was two strokes behind Cameron Tringale with seven holes to play at the 41st Pacific Coast Amateur Championship.

However, the Calgary resident thought back to the players’ dinner four nights earlier when golf legend Billy Casper related the story of his comeback from seven shots behind with nine holes to play to win the 1966 U.S. Open.

“I remembered that speech,” said Knight, “and it gave me confi­dence that I could rally.” And that’s exactly what Knight did, posting four consecutive birdies as he overtook Tringale, a San Juan Capistrano resident, to win the prestigious title by one shot.

In becoming the first Alberta resident to win the Pacific Coast Amateur, the 21-year-old Knight fired a 4-under-par 68 in the final round and finished the 72-hole championship at 278, 10 under par over the 7,033-yard course.

The 19-year-old Tringale, who will be a junior at Georgia Tech in the fall, shot 3-under-par 69 in the final round and finished at 9 under par. Alex Prugh of Spokane, Wash., the 2005 Pacific Coast Amateur champion, and University of San Diego coach Tim Mickelson (Phil’s younger brother) tied for third at 284, 4 under par. Defending champion Patrick Nagle of Pacifica, Calif., and 51-year-old Brady Exber tied for fifth at 285, 3 under par.

In the annual Morse Cup com­pe­tition, held concurrently with the first two rounds of stroke play, the Pacific Northwest Golf Associ­a­tion defended the title it won last year at
The Olympic Club.

With the best two of three scores each day counting for the team total, the PNGA totaled 278, 10 under par and five shots ahead of Sun Country GA and Northern California GA. The SCGA team of reigning California Amateur champion Josh Anderson, current SCGA Amateur champion Brett Kanda and 2006 California Amateur titleholder Jordan Nasser tied for fourth at 286.

Knight, who was tied for the lead with Tringale, knew the stakes heading into the final round.

“I knew starting today that this would be the most important round of golf in my career because I’ve never been in the final group before,” said Knight, who attended Mississippi State for a year and a half before leaving to work on his game with swing coach Kent Chase in Arizona. “I just wanted make a lot of pars and avoid any mistakes. I figured the way I had been putting all week would mean that if I gave myself chances, I could make some birdies.”

For nine holes, Knight was right on his game plan, making three birdies and six pars for a front-nine 33. Tringale matched him birdie for birdie until the ninth hole when he missed a three-foot par putt and fell a shot behind.

On the 438-yard 10th hole, Knight pushed his drive into the right-hand rough. He hit his gap-wedge shot a little fat and left it in gnarly rough in front of the green. From there, he chipped 12 feet past the hole and missed the par putt.

Then on the 158-yard 11th, Knight pulled his tee shot into trees left of the green. “Maybe the adrenaline was flowing,” he said later, “but I just didn’t think the second shot through and tried to play a shot that I shouldn’t have.” His flop-shot approach buried in the bunker, he left his third shot in the bunker and then got up and down for double-bogey, which gave Tringale a two-shot lead with seven holes to play.

“I didn’t think I had been playing tentatively,” said Knight later, “but I knew I had to get aggressive if I was going to win.” After he and Tringale made pars on nos. 12 and 13, Knight reeled off four consecutive birdies by knocking down the flagstick with his approach shots; none of the birdie putts were over four feet.

Tringale maintained his lead with a birdie 4 on the 14th hole, but his putter turned cold and he missed makeable birdie putts on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes. “Honestly, that was what happened all week,” said Tringale after the round. “I missed a lot of putts. But you have to take your hat off to a guy who birdies four in a row as Mike did.”

For complete scores, photos, and stories, visit the official Pacific Coast Amateur Web site at www.pacificcoastamateur.com.