Mickelson's college mate looking to regain golfing glory

Mickelson's college mate looking to regain golfing glory

There are 54 of the world's best amateur golfers - mostly young guns eyeing a professional career - in Melbourne this week for the Master of the Amateurs tournament at Royal Melbourne. But only one has the pedigree and preparation that Harry Rudolph III boasts.

Rudolph, 40, honed his game in the past few weeks playing for money against his old friend Phil Mickelson. And took the cash.

His story is vastly different to the majority of competitors in the blue-chip amateur tournament that begins this morning on the west course at ''Royal''. Rudolph grew up in San Diego and was a constant competitor of Mickelson's as well as an NCAA title-winning player with the University of Arizona alongside Jim Furyk, who would progress to become US Open champion years later.
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He and Mickelson used to play for tees, the strict amateur regulations not allowing them to compete for cash.

In 1992, he was all-American alongside Mickelson, Justin Leonard and David Duval.

Rudolph turned professional but instead ended up flipping hamburgers in the restaurant he bought in La Jolla, near San Diego.

His stint as a touring professional in Asia, Australia, South America and the United States ended in 1999, and he scarcely played golf at all for a decade.

In 2009, he applied for and was granted amateur status, and was recently runner-up in the California state amateur title.

It's as though his life is being played out in reverse.

"Looking back on that, I didn't know I was coming up against potentially one of the best golfers of all-time,'' he said recently of his amateur duels with Mickelson. "Had I known that, I might have cut myself some slack for losing to him every once in a while.''

Eleven nations are represented in the field for the tournament, which is being played at Royal Melbourne for the first time.

The likes of US PGA Tour stars Jason Day and Rickie Fowler used the event as a proving ground.