Getty Webb Simpson of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia.
Webb Simpson entered Saturday at the 2019 Masters at a solid but unspectacular 1-under par and 6 strokes out of the lead. He completely flipped the script with a sizzling 8-under 64 to jump near the top of the leaderboard entering the final day at Augusta National.
What a run by Webb Simpson!
The 2012 U.S. Open champ was even through 6 holes on his round today. Then he went -8 over the final 12 holes.
He’s in the clubhouse with a share of the lead… for now.
(h/t @EliasSports for throwing it back to Greg Norman!)
The 33-year old from Raleigh (N.C.) is looking for his 2nd major championship as he took home the 2012 U.S. Open title at Olympic Club in San Francisco. He fully hit the PGA Tour a decade ago, but where did he play before going pro?
He stayed in the Tar Heel State, but instead of donning the baby blue in Chapel Hill, he competed for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem. The program is a national powerhouse, producing majors champions such as the great Arnold Palmer, Lanny Wadkins, Darren Clarke, Curtis Strange, as well as Simpson.
He starred for Needham Broughton High School out of Raleigh, according to his Wake Forest bio.
One of the nation[apos]s top prep golfers… played at Raleigh Broughton HS for coach Phil Ratliff… three-time Cap-7 Conference Player of the Year (2002, 2003, 2004)… three-time team MVP… set a new low-scoring average each year in high school … won the state high school 4A individual championship in 2004… first team AJGA Polo American in 2001, 2002, 2003… ranked as the GolfWeek/Titleist No. 1 high school senior nationally.
He actually considered going straight to the pro ranks, possibly with the Web.com Tour as early as 2004. However, he decided to play for legendary Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas, a 5-time PGA Tour champion, just 40 miles away from his home.
“I feel like I had a pretty unusual recruiting experience because I started considering things so early,” said Simpson to GoDeacs.com when he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. “Between my freshman and sophomore years in high school, I was really thinking about where I wanted to go play. I took a few unofficial visits, one to Wake and one to Georgia Tech. I loved both of them and I knew I didn’t want to go too far from home because my swing coach was in Raleigh. When I visited Wake, I hit it off with Jerry (Haas). He told me how he could help me develop as a player and I believed in him. He had played on tour for a few years and knew what it took to get to the next level.”
His list of accomplishments in Winston-Salem is vast. He netted 4 All-ACC selections, an ACC Freshman of the Year in 2005, ACC Player of the Year in 2008 and All-America honors all four years, highlighted by first-team recognition as a senior.
His impact extended to the team’s success, as well.
He helped the Deacs to six team titles, including three victories at NCAA Regionals, and a third-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Championship. His 71.92 career scoring average ranks fourth in program history. He won three individual titles as a senior, including the 2008 ACC Championship.
After a pair of second-place finishes on the Web.com Tour in 2008, he earned enough money to make the PGA Tour. By 2011, he took home the Wyndham and Deustche Bank Championships, leading to a career that has netted him over $31 million in earnings.