Often, an event can only be placed in proper perspective with the passage of time.
That’s certainly been the case with the 2012 U.S. Amateur that was hosted by Cherry Hills Country Club, with CommonGround Golf Course serving as the companion course for the stroke-play portion of the championship.
We’ve noted before how several competitors in that 312-man field have moved to the forefront in the world of golf, but the last few months have particularly reinforced the point.
And the PGA Tour’s SBS Tournament of Champions that concluded on Sunday in Maui really drove home the fact that Colorado spectators attending the U.S. Amateur 4 1/2 years ago were watching the budding of something special.
The top three finishers at the Tournament of Champions — winner Justin Thomas, runner-up Hideki Matsuyama and third-place Jordan Spieth — all competed at Cherry Hills and CommonGround in the 2012 U.S. Amateur. (Thomas is pictured above at Cherry Hills in 2012.)
But the Tournament of Champions is just the latest example of 2012 U.S. Am players thriving at the highest level of golf. In fact, four of the top eight players on this season’s PGA Tour money list competed in Colorado in August 2012: Matsuyama (No. 1 on the list), Thomas (No. 2), Cody Gribble (No. 7) and Daniel Berger (No. 8).
Some recent PGA Tour highlights from 2012 U.S. Am players:
— In his five official and unofficial starts on the PGA Tour during the current wraparound season, Matsuyama has finished no worse than sixth place. He’s won twice (HSBC Champions and the Hero World Challenge) and been runner-up twice.
— In five official and unofficial PGA Tour events this season, Thomas has notched two victories (CIMB Classic and SBS Tournament of Champions), a fifth and an eighth. And on Thursday at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he carded a cool first-round 59.
— Spieth won the Australian Open in late November, marking his third win worldwide in 2016.
— Gribble won the Sanderson Farms Championship in late October, marking one of two top-10s so far this season.
— Berger has posted a second in the HSBC Champions and a ninth in the Franklin Templeton Shootout in recent months.
— Former NCAA individual champion Thomas Pieters has recorded two top-15 finishes in two tournaments on the PGA Tour this season.
— Bryson DeChambeau, winner of the 2015 U.S. Am, posted two top-6 showings on the PGA Tour in 2016.
— Also recording top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2016 were Zac Blair (third in the Sony Open), Oliver Schniederjans (sixth in RSM Classic) and Cheng-Tsung Pan (also sixth in RSM Classic).
Career-wise in official PGA Tour events, Spieth owns eight wins, Thomas and Matsuyama three apiece, and Gribble and Berger one each.
And, mind you, all of the aforementioned players are still in their young to mid-20s. Spieth, Thomas, Berger, DeChambeau and Schniederjans are 23; Matsuyama and Pieters 24; Pan 25; and Gribble and Blair 26.
All told, five of the top 50 players in the world rankings — and three of the top dozen — competed in the 2012 U.S. Am: Spieth (fifth), Matsuyama (sixth), Thomas (12th), Berger (32nd) and Pieters (48th). Also currently in the top 200 in the world are DeChambeau (123rd), Patrick Rodgers (148th), Gribble (181st), Schniederjans (187th) and Pan (200th).
In case you’re wondering, here’s how some of these notable players fared at the 2012 U.S. Amateur:
— Spieth: The winner of two U.S. Junior Amateurs and the low amateur at the 2012 U.S. Open lost in the round of 64 in match play, 1 up to Pieters.
— Matsuyama: Japanese standout shot 73-72 and missed a playoff to advance to match play by two strokes.
— Thomas: Advanced to the match play semifinals, where he lost to eventual national runner-up Michael Weaver, 3 and 2.
— Gribble: Shot 75-69 and missed a playoff to advance to match play by one stroke.
— Berger: Shot 75-69 and missed a playoff to advance by match play by one stroke.
— Pieters: A round after defeating Spieth, lost 4 and 3 in the round of 32 to Canadian Albin Choi.
— DeChambeau: Three years before winning the U.S. Amateur, he lost in 19 holes in the match play round of 64 to Andrew Presley.
— Blair: The 2011 Colorado Open low amateur lost 2 and 1 in the match play round of 64 to Weaver, the eventual runner-up.
— Schniederjans: Lost 2 and 1 in the match play round of 64 to Adam Schenk.
— Pan: Lost in the quarterfinals 4 and 3 to Brandon Hagy, another current PGA Tour player.
