Ayrshire, Scotland – Alan Dunbar won the final two holes Saturday to defeat Matthias Schwab and win the British Amateur Championship at Royal Troon.
Dunbar, 23, joins Michael Hoey and Garth McGimpsey as the third winner of this championship from Northern Ireland.
"My putting was great all week. I struggled with the long game as the week went on and I had to rely on my putting," Dunbar said.
This was the first British Amateur to go all 36 holes since 2002. And in those 36 holes, the lead exchanged hands five times.
It was Schwab who entered the second 18 with a 1-up lead, but Dunbar won three of the first five holes in the afternoon to grab a 2-up advantage.
Schwab, 17, squared the match as he took the seventh and eighth. He then moved back in front when Dunbar conceded the 12th after hooking his tee shot into a bush.
Schwab failed to get up and down on 15 to again square the match. Dunbar then struggled to a bogey on the par-5 16th to fall 1-down.
Dunbar, who played on last year's Great Britain & Ireland's Walker Cup team, parred the final two holes, and it was enough to come back to win the match.
Schwab, who will start college golf at Vanderbilt in September, missed the final two greens and was unable to get up and down for par both times.
"I had a lesson with my coach last week, and he said if you win the Amateur you're taking me to the Masters. So I suppose that was a bit of motivation," Dunbar stated.
With victory, Dunbar gains a berth in next month's British Open and next year's U.S. Open. He traditionally would be invited to next year's Masters as well, providing he remains an amateur.
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