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Jeff Osberg wins Philadelphia Amateur title

There was no elaborate celebration for Jeff Osberg when his opponent, Nelson Hargrove, missed a putt on the ninth hole at the White Manor Country Club on Saturday. Instead, he casually walked over to shake his opponent's hand before calmly walking over to his friends and family.

Jeff Osberg. (Ron Tarver/Staff Photographer)
Jeff Osberg. (Ron Tarver/Staff Photographer)Read more

There was no elaborate celebration for Jeff Osberg when his opponent, Nelson Hargrove, missed a putt on the ninth hole at the White Manor Country Club on Saturday. Instead, he casually walked over to shake his opponent's hand before calmly walking over to his friends and family.

The celebration reflected the manner in which Osberg captured the 114th Philadelphia Amateur Championship. He left little room for drama.

The 29-year-old from West Chester needed just 27 holes in the 36-hole match-play championship round to eliminate Hargrove, 10 and 9.

Finishing off his opponent early was nothing new for the ninth-seeded Osberg. In each of the final four rounds of the 32-player tournament, Osberg defeated his opponents with at least five holes remaining in the round.

Osberg said the key to maintaining his large leads was advice professional golfer Jay Sigel gave him when they had breakfast a couple of years ago.

"When you get one up, you just got to think of how you're going to get two up," Osberg said. "And then you think about how you're going to get three up, and [when] you're seven up, you're thinking about how you're going to get 10 up.

"You're always thinking about how you're going to win the next hole."

Osberg built his lead in the championship in the first 18 holes Saturday morning. After Hargrove, a 23-year-old from Haverford, took a 1-up lead after six holes, Osberg went on a run. He won the next six holes, and his lead never again shrank below five. Hargrove won only one hole in the afternoon session while Osberg cemented his lead.

Osberg became the 24th golfer from the Huntingdon Valley Country Club to win the tournament. He will be the latest one with his name etched onto the J. Wood Platt Trophy, something he said has been a goal of his for six or seven years.

"There's a lot of legends on there - a lot of national players and a lot of really, really great, great, great players that have been able to put their name there," Osberg said. "It's definitely going to be awesome next year to see my name engraved on there as well."