Cavaliere, Tilley to meet in WGA Amateur final
ARMONK, N.Y. (June 14, 2017) – Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow and Christian Cavaliere of Mahopac will look to add to their WGA resumes on Friday, after both claimed a pair of victories on Wednesday to earn a spot in the 36-hole final for the 98th WGA Amateur Championship.
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Tilley, who recently regained amateur status after competing professionally for several years, opened the day with a 3-and-1 victory over Paul Pastore. Though trailing by two through five holes, Tilley bounced back to claim four in a row on Nos. 7-10 to take his own 2-up advantage. Pastore answered with wins on two of the next three holes, but Tilley claimed wins on Nos. 14, 15 and 17 to close out the match.
In the afternoon match, it was a battle between past WGA Amateur champions, as Tilley—the 2005 champion—and 2015 winner Luke Feehan of Mahopac squared off. Tilley caught fire though, defeating Feehan 6-and-5. “This afternoon I knew Luke was going to come out and putt well as he always does, so I tried to be aggressive, play my own game and try to make as many birdies as possible,” Tilley said. “I was fortunate I played a great round of golf—8-under through 13, so it was a pretty special round.”
After jumping back into the amateur scene, Tilley is looking forward to having a shot at winning a championship so quickly. “It’d mean a lot to win this title again,” he said. “Winning anything is incredible. If I were able to do it again, that would be fantastic. 2005 is still special to me and it’d be an honor to win again.”
Meanwhile, Cavaliere continued his run of impressive play picking up a 5-and-3 win over Owen Elliott in the morning and knocking off top-seed James Nicholas of Westchester in the afternoon by a 3-and-2 margin. Cavaliere, the 2012 champion of both the WGA Boys and Junior titles, said steady play helped him secure his spot in the final. “The key was just keeping the ball in front of me, and not finding some of the tough spots out here,” he said. “I didn’t make too many mistake mistakes and just played smart golf.”
Cavaliere used a fast start—claiming five of the first six holes—to earn his win over Elliott. In the afternoon, Nicholas took a 2-up lead through five, but Cavaliere responded with birdies on the next four holes to turn the match in his favor. The duo halved the next six holes and Nicholas conceded the 16th after finding trouble, earning Cavaliere the victory.
The 36-hole championship takes place Friday, beginning at 8 a.m. Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available, with additional coverage on the WGA’s new Twitter, @WGA1916.
Related: Senior Bracket | Super Senior Bracket
Championship matches are also set for the 2017 WGA Senior Amateur and Super Senior Amateur. Jim Romaniello of Shorehaven and Mark Vassalotti of Sterling Farms will square off for the Senior title, while Russ Sirico of Lake Isle and Rick Blank of Metropolis will battle for the Super Senior crown.