Schmid relishes Silver Medal

Matthias Schmid’s goal coming into The 149th Open was to win the Silver Medal and the German amateur was relishing the ‘special’ feeling of joining some of golf’s biggest stars in doing exactly that. 

The list of Silver Medal winners for leading amateur at an Open is a who’s who of golfing greats, with the likes of José María Olazábal (1985), Tiger Woods (1996), Justin Rose (1998) and Rory McIlroy (2007) all achieving the feat. 

And Schmid, back-to-back winner of the European Amateur Championship in 2019 and 2020, joined the roll of honour after a 282-aggregate score (74-65-71-72) left him four strokes clear of China’s Yuxin Lin at the end of four rounds at Royal St George’s. 

The 23-year-old looked right at home on the links and highlighted two names in particular that he was thrilled to join in securing a Silver Medal. 

“I just got told some of the names that have been on the list for a Silver Medal and I'm proud of myself I was able to join it this week,” explained Schmid. 

“That was the goal coming in here. I played some pretty good golf. Putter was a little cold on the weekend but I'm still proud of myself and how I handled it. 

“Joining the likes of Justin Rose, [Rory] McIlroy [in winning it] is something special and to play well here as an amateur, I guess it doesn't happen too often.  

“So I'm very, very happy that I could do it this week.” 

MAKING HISTORY AT ROYAL ST GEORGE’S 

Schmid had a number of on-course highlights over the week at Royal St George’s, including the magnificent 65 he shot on Friday to match Tom Lewis’s 2011 record for the lowest round by an amateur in the history of The Open Championship. 

He also made an eagle at the par-5 7th on Sunday after a tremendous approach shot and although it wasn’t all plain sailing, the German says he won’t forget The 149th Open in a hurry. 

“I got off to a rough start on Thursday, where I didn't play too badly but obviously had a terrible finish,” added Schmid. “So, I was pretty hurt after Thursday but the finish on Friday made me feel a lot better, and I played great over the weekend too – I just couldn't hole any putts.  

“Friday afternoon was obviously huge. I was very nervous but I kept it together. I played solid and had a lucky break there, a couple lucky breaks at the end, which you need, especially with things going wrong on Thursday.  

“Friday was huge and I'm happy to stand here with the Silver Medal at the end of the week.”