Mollica Wins North-South Amateur

July 8, 2007

Pinehurst, NC – Clemson rising junior Phillip Mollica won the North-South Amateur on Pinehurst #2 in Pinehurst, NC on Sunday with an 8 & 6 victory over Ray Sheedy IV of Keymar, MD. In winning the 36-hole final, Mollica is the first Clemson golfer to win the famed North-South Amateur. This was the 107th North-South Amateur and former champions include Jack Nicklaus, Davis Love and Curtis Strange.

Mollica dominated the match as he jumped out to a 5-up lead after the morning 18 holes. The native of Anderson, SC had five birdies and just two bogeys in the first 18 holes. He then birdied the first two holes in the afternoon round and had a 6-up lead after the second hole. He made a birdie three on the par four 12th hole that clinched the match.

It was the second win for Mollica in a major amateur event. Last summer he won the Monroe Invitational. His win over Sheedy was his second victory over an UNC Charlotte golfer during his run to the title. Earlier in the week he defeated Andrew Dibitetto of the 49ers golf program by a 4 & 3 score.

Other golfers Mollica defeated during the week included Jesse Speiers, a golfer from TCU, Steve Ziegler, who will be a freshman at Stanford in the fall and was a member of the United States Junior World Cup team, Scott Barton of SMU and Aaron Pike, one of the top amateurs in Australia. His win over Pike was extraordinary considering Pike made a hole-in-one and an eagle during his round, but Mollica still won 2 & 1

Mollica will next be in action at next weekend’s Players Amateur in Hilton Head.

Mollica Match Play Results at North-South Amateur July 4, 2007 – def. #49 Jesse Spiers (Bangor, ME) 2-up July 5, 2007 – def. #17 Steve Ziegler (Broomfield, CO), 4 & 3 July 5, 2007 – def. #64 Andrew Dibitetto (Rochester, NY), 4 & 3 July 6, 2007 – def. Scott Barton (Dallas, TX), 19 holes July 7, 2007 – def. Aaron Pike (Brisbane, Australia), 2 &1 July 8, 2007 – def. Ray Sheedy IV (Keymar, MD) 8 and 6

Mollica Quotes on Winning North-South Amateur “I had not been very good in match play previously so I took a different approach this week. I just played against the course and did not worry about what my opponent was doing. That came in handy in the semifinals because my opponent (Aaron Pike) made an eagle and a hole-in-one on the back nine to get within one hole. But, I made an eagle on 16 that put be back up by two with two to play.

“I played well today. I got off to a good start with five birdies on the first 18 holes and shot three under for the round. Then I made a couple of birdies to start the second 18.

“I had not been driving the ball well prior to this tournament, but I drove it well all week. That and making a few putts had a lot to do with this victory. It was great to win at Pinehurst, a course with so much history in an event with so much history. I don’t know why I play well here, bit is a great course and I always look forward to playing here any chance I can.”

One other note on Mollica: His 8 & 6 victory over Ray Sheedy on Sunday was the second largest margin of victory in a final over the last 24 years. The only one that is bigger since 1984 was a 9& 7 win by James Driscoll over John Pitt in 1999.