Allen John beat the likes of Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau at the European Open, but he fell just one stroke shy of winner Richard McEvoy.
McEvoy canned a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to pick up his first career win, which left three players, John included, in a tie for second and a shot out of a playoff.
But John was the only amateur of the group. The 30-year-old German received a sponsor’s exemption into the event, which was held at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Winsen, Germany.
John, who closed with a five-under 67, has used hearing aids since he was 2. He only has 5 percent of his hearing without them. He played college golf at Georgia State, turned pro in 2011 and joined the Challenge Tour. John reclaimed his amateur status in 2016, and in 2017 he won gold at the Deaflympics, which is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee
“I’ve tried to make the best of it. You get a lot of self confidence with handling a situation like that,” John said of his hearing. “I’m pretty good round that now. It’s pretty cool, when something is annoying me, I can just go offline and everybody is thinking ‘Is he even listening?’ and I’m like, OK, I’m offline. It has a few advantages. I acknowledge the fact that I have a condition and they ask me about it. It’s pretty cool because they seem to be interested in what is happening there. Once I explain then mostly they’re impressed.”
As an amateur, John had to forgo a check of €170,000, but it was almost so much more, had McEvoy not cashed in on the last. John’s superb back nine on Sunday included four birdies and no bogeys for a four-under 34. He made birdies on 15, 16 and 17 to jump into contention.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” he said. “The atmosphere out there, the people that’ve been walking with me the 18 holes, it’s just an incredible feeling. Making birdie after birdie on the back nine was quite cool and when I was on 18 I saw the leaderboard and I was like ‘Wow, I’m pretty much in contention.’ It’s a pretty cool feeling.”
