When the day began, Mike Van Sickle had no inkling that he was about to make history. The Marquette University golfer just knew he felt comfortable.

That comfort zone led to a Pennsylvania state record when he carded a score of 60 (12 under Par) on June 14 to win the Dick's Sporting Goods Tri-State Amateur Championship Tournament on Tom's Run Golf Course at Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort and Conference Center in Pittsburgh.Prior to Van Sickle's amazing round, the lowest round ever played in Tri-State PGA amateur history was held by William Miller of Venetia, Pa., who scored a 62 (8 under par at the time). Van Sickle also set a new course record for Tom's Run, a 4 1/2-star layout.
And he came within a hair of shooting a 59, missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

On the opening day of the tournament, Van Sickle's 73 had provided no clue of what was to come 24 hours later.
"I thought I had played great," he said. "I felt like I had shot 65, I just couldn't get any putts to fall. I thought the course owed me a little bit. I hit 15 greens and wound up with 73. I was kind of scratching my head. It was a frustrating day."

That wasn't the case the next day, which began with him trailing the leader by four strokes. Sinking several 15-foot putts, Van Sickle made the turn at 7-under. Then on No. 11, a 230-yard par 3, he dropped in a 70-foot putt for a birdie that got him to 9 under. He left a couple of eagle putts just short and was 11-under through 13 holes.
"That's when I started thinking," Van Sickle said. "I felt the whole course was playing kind of easy, a little soft. I was just trying to catch the leader. When I got on the 14th tee at 11-under, I thought, 'Well, I've probably caught him by now.' If I can just get to 12-under I'll have 59 in the bag."

He got there with a birdie on No. 15 and parred the next two holes.

"I really felt comfortable the whole day," Van Sickle said. "I didn't have the pressure of playing with the leader, and there were no scoreboards around, so the whole time I never knew where I sat. It was a more comfortable situation than if I knew I had the lead. I just tricked myself into thinking I was behind the whole day."
On the final hole, Van Sickle hit what he described as "a perfect drive" within 185 yards on the par 5 that played about 500 yards.

"Then I got real excited with a 7 iron and hit it over the green into the bunker," he said.
But he made a nice recovery and his third shot trickled to within four feet of the hole. A cinch. Well, not quite. His birdie putt slipped past the cup.

"The putt broke a lot, but I kind of choked on it," Van Sickle said. "I didn't get a good stroke on it. It's not a situation you ever practice. You never have the pressure of making a shot for 59."
So he settled for 60.

"I was a little upset afterwards for missing that putt," Van Sickle recalled. "Fifty-nine is the equivalent of a perfect game in baseball. It would have been pretty cool, but I still won the tournament and it was a very good experience."

Van Sickle, a 20-year-old junior at Marquette who is majoring in broadcast and electronic communications, is a native of Milwaukee whose family now lives in Pittsburgh. The son of Sports Illustrated golf writer Gary Van Sickle, Mike started playing with his dad when he was three years old and grew up on golf courses. His game began to blossom when he gave up baseball at 13 after suffering a broken elbow and started focusing on golf.
"I've loved golf my entire life," Van Sickle said. "My dream growing up was to some day play on the PGA Tour. That was clearly a far-fetched dream when I was six years old; I was more focused on what cartoon show I was going to watch than going out and practicing golf."

Having lived in Milwaukee until he was 11, and with his mother, Betsy, being a former Golden Eagles' Sports Information Director, Marquette was a natural choice when it came to selecting a college.
Said Van Sickle: "When I came for my visit it was kind of cool because when I met people in the athletic department, they'd say, 'Aw Mike, we remember you when you were this tall,' and they'd hold their hand at knee level. Campus really felt like home. It's just a very good situation up here. Except for the weather. But it's always nice to have a month or two off."

Marquette coach Tim Grogan said Van Sickle struggled with his putting for most of his first two seasons, but has improved significantly during the last nine months in that phase of his game.
"Putting wasn't his strong point," Grogan said. "It was okay, but it wasn't a strength. So he went to work on it. Overall, the really positive thing about him is he keeps getting better. . .and he started at a pretty high level."
Van Sickle won three collegiate tournaments through two seasons at Marquette and added another by sharing the title at the Windom Memorial hosted by Northwestern University at Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe, Ill., in October.

"It was a pretty good field," Van Sickle said of the Windom. "Tiger Woods was the runnerup one year, so now I can say I accomplished something Tiger didn't, although that will probably be the only thing."
Van Sickle was an All-Big East first team selection in 2007 and earned honorable mention All-America honors. So now his childhood dream of a PGA career doesn't seem quite as far-fetched.

"It's starting to become a little more reality," he said. "Back when I was playing a couple of tiems a week, it was a dream. Now it's turned into a goal. If I keep working hard and catch a few breaks you never know what could happen. I'm definitely going to turn pro after college and give it a shot."