Jon McLean Likes His Chances At The Amateur Public Links Championship

By Stuart Hall

Aurora, Colo. — Jon McLean finished off his first-round match play opponent at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and headed right for the leaderboard.

Jon McLean joined teammate Rickie Fowler in advancing at the APL. McLean likes his chances. (John Mummert/USGA)

“I just want to see how Rickie did,” said McLean of Rickie Fowler, his Oklahoma State University teammate who breezed to a first-round win at Murphy Creek Golf Course on Wednesday.

He’s not the only one.

With medalist Aaron Goldberg of Carlsbad, Calif., upset in the morning, Fowler becomes the highest remaining seed at No. 2. Fowler is also the headliner in the field given his All-American freshman season in Stillwater, Okla., and his being a member of the victorious United States of America Walker Cup team last fall.

And McLean, 22, of Weston, Fla., is quite content with being lost in the crowd, just as long as he’s in the championship come Saturday. After consecutive 69s to earn the No. 7 seed in match play, McLean took another step by defeating 41-year-old Rod Butler of Carson City, Nev., 3 and 1. McLean now meets David Johnson of Palm Bay, Fla., in Thursday’s second round.

“I don’t mind flying under the radar,” said McLean, the son of noted teaching professional Jim McLean. “Rickie and I roomed together this past year, and we play a lot of golf together. He’s real good, and deserves all he’s gotten.”

But McLean is here for the same reason as Fowler and the remaining 30 players left in the field — to win this championship. And for all the talk about Fowler, McLean likes his chances.

“I’ve been playing some real good golf of late,” McLean said. “I seem to be doing everything solid and not making many mistakes. I shot two rounds of two under [in qualifying] and that helped set the tone. I like where my game is at the moment and I was excited to get here.”

He also likes his place in life. After two seasons at Texas Christian University, where he led the Horned Frogs in stroke average as a freshman and won once in 19 tournaments over two years, he decided to transfer north to Stillwater.

“Don’t regret the move one bit, probably the best decision I’ve ever made,” McLean said. “I’m playing against some great players in Rickie and Kevin [Tway] each day and just think I’ve improved more than if I had stayed at Texas Christian.”

In McLean’s junior season at OSU, he played just 18 competitive rounds for the Cowboys — second fewest on the seven-man roster and his best finish was a T-20 at the Puerto Rico Classic.

“I wasn’t playing that well at the end of the year, and I think it was a real kick in the butt for me to improve and get my game back in shape.” 

Granted, McLean would like to contribute more to the Cowboys’ success, but he also realizes that his game is being tested at a higher level each day than it was at TCU. As a result, McLean believes personal success could be just on the horizon.

“I’m really looking forward to the rest of the summer and my senior season,” he said. 

A win here would be a good start to that journey.

Story written by Stuart Hall. Hall is a freelance writer from the Golf Press Association, whose work has previously appeared on USGA championship Web sites