Paul Mitzel can’t remember a crazier match.
He and his Round-of-64 opponent, Ryan O’Rear, put on a show Monday at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, held this week at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The two players each took seven holes of regulation, all but two of them via birdie, and their traded pars at the par-4 18th not only marked just the fourth tied hole of the day but sent the match to extra holes.
“The match was incredible,” Mitzel said. “I’ve played a lot of match play, and I’ve never experienced anything like that. … Not sure I’ll ever experience anything like that again.
“Too bad it had to end that way.”
In the end, Mitzel, a 35-year-old from Seattle, lost in 20 holes to O’Rear.
And the craziest part: Neither player hit a shot on that 20th hole.
Mitzel lost the hole after his caddie, a longtime friend, accepted a cart ride from the first green to the par-4 second, the second extra hole. The walking rules official called the penalty, which, per Model Local Rule G-6, resulted in loss of the hole – and, in this case, the match.
MLR G-6 states, “During a round, a player or caddie must not ride on any form of motorized transportation except as authorized or later approved by the committee.”
Already on a flight home, Mitzel described the situation to Golf Channel in further detail. O’Rear had just gotten up and down from a greenside bunker while he had two-putted from 25 feet to tie the hole. While Mitzel marched up the hill to the next hole, his caddie, having just put the flagstick back in the hole, was asked if he wanted a ride to the next tee by one of the shuttle drivers, who had just shuttled the players from the 18th hole back to the first and was following the match to bring the players back to the clubhouse upon its conclusion.
Mitzel added that players were also being shuttled between the 14th and 15th holes on the desert layout. He also said that O’Rear asked the official if he could veto the ruling himself and continue the match, though that request was denied.
The violation was reminiscent of the Round of 64 at the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, where Akshay Bhatia lost the 14th hole after his caddie asked someone whom he thought was a USGA official if he could get a cart ride back from the bathroom and then hopped on; Bhatia went on to lose to Bradford Tilley in 19 holes. Also, three Korn Ferry Tour players were penalized two shots at the 2023 Lecom Suncoast Classic after taking shuttle rides midway through their second rounds.
“I have to think anyone in that situation takes the ride when a shuttle driver asks if they want to hop on really quick and not think anything of it,” said Mitzel, coming to his buddy’s defense. “… My caddie doesn’t deserve any fault. He’s the man and an awesome friend. I’d do the same thing in his shoes. We were having so much fun, it’s too bad.”
This was Mitzel’s third straight U.S. Mid-Amateur appearance after he took about a decade off from competitive golf following his college career at Washington State. In addition to winning the 2022 Pacific Northwest Amateur and last year’s Trans-Miss Mid-Amateur, Mitzel noted that he’s developed a knack for playoffs; six in three years to be exact – to qualify for his previous two U.S. Mid-Amateurs, to get into match play each of the past two years, to win his first-round match last year in 19 holes, and then Monday’s 20-hole defeat.
“It’s hardened me in a lot of ways,” said Mitzel, who became a dad six months ago, to son, Brooks. “I was looking forward to making a dent this year, and I truly believe I was about to.”
O’Rear, of Georgetown, Texas, advances to Tuesday’s Round of 32, where he’ll face George Ordway of Charlottesville, Virginia. Other notables still alive in the knockout stage include three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad; defending U.S. Mid-Amateur winner Evan Beck; brothers Cody and Bobby Massa, the latter of whom lost to Beck last year; Drew Kittleson and Stephen Behr Jr., both semifinalists last year; and several reinstated amateurs, including Ian Davis, a former college teammate of Talor Gooch at Oklahoma State, and Nahum Mendoza, who played with Xander Schauffele at San Diego State.
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