Alex Beach has been asking himself how it gets much better than this. The wins are stacking up for the PGA Assistant Professional from Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York. On Sunday, Beach became the first player in history to win multiple PGA of America national championships in the same calendar year.
Beach came from behind to win the 43rd National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He was trailing by three shots on Sunday morning, but he rattled off three consecutive birdies on the Wanamaker Course at the start of his round to quickly take care of that.
A final-round 67 was the lowest round of the day, and enough to get Beach to 8-under 280 for the week. That was three shots better than runner-up Carlos Sainz Jr. of Houston.
“I felt very comfortable this week,” Beach said. “I committed a couple mistakes yesterday that I was frustrated with. But I knew coming back today, it’s almost an advantage to play from behind. I was confident that my experience might prevail if I could play well. Getting off to the fast start was huge.”
Assistant PGA Professional Championship: Leaderboard
A dropped shot on No. 10 was the only mistake on Beach’s card. Birdies on Nos. 13 and 16 sealed it.
Past the stroke-play victories, Beach also was a member of the victorious U.S. PGA Cup Team in September. His outlook for 2020 is bright too, considering that he has advanced to the final stage of Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School, to be played at Orange County National in Orlando, Florida next month.
“It’s hard work paying off,” said Beach. “It’s nice to represent all the Assistants out there. The work is just starting.”
Behind Sainz in second, Scott Berliner of Lake Luzerne, New York, and Timothy Wiseman of Corydon, Indiana tied for fourth at 2-under 286.
