James Piot uses furious comeback to win 121st U.S. Amateur Championship

James Point hits a tee shot

James Piot watches a tee shot during the U.S. Amateur final on Sunday at Oakmont Country Club.

Chris Keane/USGA

James Piot was facing the biggest deficit of the match, by any player, with just nine holes remaining in the 121st U.S. Amateur. And then he flipped the script.

Piot won four straight holes to retake the lead and never lost it, beating Austin Greaser 2 and 1 in the U.S. Amateur final on Sunday at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. With the win, Piot now has invites to next year’s Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship.

Piot, a Michigan State senior, and Greaser, a North Carolina junior, saw little movement to start their 36-hole final on Sunday. Piot went 2 up on the 11th hole, but that didn’t last when he lost the 12th with a bogey. They traded 1-up leads until Greaser went 2 up on the 22nd hole and then made it 3 up with his par on the 27th. With nine to play, Piot was 3 down.

But he won the next four holes with two birdies and two pars, using a mix of superb play while also capitalizing on his opponent’s mistakes to go 1 up with five remaining. He won the 33rd hole with a par to go 2 up and then held off Greaser and closed it out on the 35th.

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.