JOHNSTOWN — David Fuhrer II sank a short birdie putt on the final hole Tuesday to break a three-way tie and capture the championship of the 125th West Penn Amateur at Sunnehanna Country Club.
Fuhrer, representing Oakmont Country Club, entered the final round with a three-stroke lead but fell behind briefly before rallying to win on the last shot and survive an even-par 70 on the final day, giving him a two-day total of 8-under 202.
Oakmont rival Carson Kittsley and South Hills’ Darin Kowalski finished in a second-place tie at 7-under 203 after both settled for even par on No. 18.
Kittsley, who trailed by six strokes entering the final round, turned in the best score of the day, a 5-under 65. Kowalski and Hannastown’s Nicholas Turowski both were a stroke back at 66.
Fuhrer, a 2024 Fox Chapel grad who played last fall at George Mason, began the day by making birdie on No. 1 to stretch his lead to four strokes over Allegheny’s J.F. Aber and Southpointe’s Scott Jordan. But he ran into several rough patches, shooting double bogey on No. 4 and bogey on No. 12 and fell behind late in the round before managing to finish on top.
Furher still managed to birdie four holes in the final round after doing so on five of the first eight during Monday’s first round, where he shot 7-under 63. He finished with a total of 11 birdies through the first two rounds.
Aber wound up fourth overall at 6-under 204 after a final-round 69. Olde Stonewall’s Hunter Swidzinski shot 2-under 68 to round out the top five with a two-day total of 5-under 205.
Defending champion Nathan Piatt of Oakmont shot 2-over 72 on the final day to wind up in a tie for 10th place overall with Montour Heights’ Ian Bangor at 1-under 209.
This story will be updated.