In the first U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in two years, Florida teens Kiko Francisco Coelho and Leopoldo Herrera III teamed up to win at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.
Last year’s event was among the many U.S. Golf Association events canceled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
Coelho, 18, and Herrera, 19, won the 2021 Four-Ball after making birdie on the first extra hole to defeat Brendan MacDougall and Sam Meek. The Canadian duo almost won the match on 18 but MacDougall’s eagle pitch from off the green hit the flagstick but didn’t go in. This was the first USGA event Coelho and Herrera had entered.
The win gets each of them into the 121st U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, in Augusta. Earlier this year, the USGA upgraded the exemption categories for its two Four-Ball competitions, adding spots to the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Herrera just finished his freshman season at Central Florida. Coelho, who grew up in Portugal, will be a freshman at Arizona State this fall. He will also compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur in July at The Country Club of North Carolina.
Chambers Bay, which hosted the 2015 U.S. Open won by Jordan Spieth, was recently awarded the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
