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By Stan Awtrey
Kiko Francisco Coelho found a way to turn a friendship into a championship.
He and Leopoldo Herrera III were pals. The two had competed against each other on a regular basis on the Florida Junior Tour and at national events conducted by the American Junior Golf Association. But it wasn’t until they were paired together in the final round of 2020 Florida Boys Junior Amateur that Coelho saw the potential of the two as a team.
Coelho called his buddy and they agreed to pair up for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Then they went out and won it.
Coelho and Herrera, a pair of teenagers from the Sunshine State, outlasted the University of Nevada duo of Brendan MacDougall and Sam Meek in 19 holes to claim the sixth U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Washington.
“We are pretty good friends,” Coelho said. “We felt really comfortable with each other on the golf course. When I was in trouble, he stepped up and hit good shots, and when he was in trouble, I did the same thing. So we matched up pretty well. Just really good teamwork.”
Herrera was the big hitter of the duo, booming one drive after another into the blue Washington sky. Coelho was leaned on for his consistency, his ability to hit fairways and greens in a machine-like manner. And both were lights-out on the greens. Their skills meshed well and played into their pre-tournament strategy.
“Sometimes we would both be aggressive, but most of the time the person with the worse angle into the green would hit first and try to secure being on the green,” Coelho said. “Then the other one could be more aggressive and go for it. We just had to commit to a shot and both agree on what we were doing and we did.”
Coelho, 18, was born in Portugal and came to the United States with his family two years ago with the expressed purpose to play golf, get ready for college and prepare for a professional career. Herrera’s parents are from Venezuela, but he was born in the United States and he was on the fast track to being a pro.
Coelho was on the Portuguese national boys Division 2 team and had extensive international experience before moving, including a victory at the Austrian Junior Open. He sits at No. 30 in the AJGA rankings and has finished in the top 25 in his past eight events, including a runner-up at the KJ Choi Foundation Texas Junior Championship. He will be a freshman at Arizona State in the fall.
Herrera, 19, has been a member of the Venezuelan national team and was ranked as high as No. 20. He was a member of the University of Central Florida team, but played in only one match and went T64 at the Timuquana Collegiate. Herrera disclosed Wednesday that he will not return to college this fall, but instead will turn professional following the U.S. Amateur in August.
Their week began simply enough. Coelho and Herrera tied for eighth during the 36-hole stroke-play qualifier, shooting 68-64 to advance easily to match play.
They needed 21 holes to win their first match against Georgians Chad Brandon and Kyle Hosick, the No. 25 seed, but closed out ninth-seeded Texans Matt Boyd and Blake Redmond, 3 and 2. A surprisingly easy 3-and-1 win against Kelly Chinn and David Ford, the top-seeded team, gave Coelho and Herrera a boost of confidence going into the final day.
“When we beat them, we knew we had a really, really good chance at winning the championship,” Coelho said. “It was really good motivation when we beat them. We just did a tremendous job.”
The opponents in the semifinals were No. 9 Davis Chatfield and Palmer Jackson, a side of Notre Dame players who had already knocked off defending champions Scott Harvey and Todd Mitchell. But Coelho and Herrera won four consecutive holes on the front nine to take a commanding lead and closed it out 3 and 2.
“It just shows what a goofy game this is. I hit what I thought was the perfect shot and if it goes in, it’s a different story."
Brendan MacDougall
In the other half of the draw, MacDougall and Meek – who had to show up at 6:45 a.m. to complete the final three holes of their quarterfinal match – needed 19 holes to put away No. 10 seeds Tyler Anderson and Devin Johnson. The Canadian-born side erased a two-hole deficit with birdies at Nos. 17 and 18, then secured the win with a birdie on the first extra hole.
The title match went back and forth until Coelho and Herrera took a two-hole lead after 11 holes. But MacDougall and Meek squared things with birdies at the par-3s 15th and 17th.
That’s when it got crazy. MacDougall hit a 45-yard chip shot to the 18th that nearly jarred the hole, but finished so close that it was conceded. Coelho and Herrera both found the fairway bunker off the tee and left themselves with challenging putts just to extend the match. Coelho missed his 20-footer, but Herrera calmed his shaking hands long enough to knock in his 14-foot birdie putt and force extra holes.
“It just shows what a goofy game this is,” MacDougall said. “I hit what I thought was the perfect shot and if it goes in, it’s a different story. Same thing, if your opponent doesn’t make that putt on 18, it’s a different story. Props to him. He sucked it up, hit the putt he needed to.”
Herrera said, “I was telling the caddie, there was no way that ball shouldn’t have gone in. They opened the door and I was stepping up on that putt and I just told myself – and I was putting terrible – ‘Look, I’m just going to look at it, not think about.’ Trust was huge.”
On the 19th hole, a 555-yard par-5, Coelho was on the green in two, lagged it to 2 feet and tapped in for birdie. MacDougall hit a bad tee shot and was out of the hole by the time Meek lined up a 4-footer for birdie to remain alive. His putt looked good, but turned just enough left to stay out and give the win to Coelho and Herrera.
“It stinks,” Meek said. “I thought I put a good enough stroke on it to go in and it just sat there.”
The winners had their gold medals draped around their necks and were awarded possession of the trophy for the next year, along with an exemption into the upcoming U.S. Amateur at Oakmont. Having completed 89 holes, the most played by a championship side, it was time to celebrate. Sort of.
“I just went back to my hotel room and went to sleep,” Coelho said. “It was a long week and I was really tired. I just wanted to sleep.”
Top: Kiki Francisco Coelho (left) and Leopoldo Herrera III needed a record 89 holes to claim U.S. Amateur Four-Ball trophy.
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