SUNRIVER – Even though he had the chance, Tiger Woods never won consecutive Pacific Northwest Golf Association Men’s Amateur titles.

But Bend’s Sam Renner has.

On Sunday at Sunriver Resort, Renner became the first golfer to win consecutive PNGA amateur titles since Jim McLean last accomplished the feat in 1972. In the tournament’s 123-history, only six players have repeated as champions.

“It is pretty crazy,” Renner said. “Especially doing it so close to home with all my friends and my family all watching. It will probably hit me later. It’s really cool and I’m very blessed to be in this situation.”

There was admittedly pressure for Renner coming into the tournament as its defending champion, but after two rounds of stroke play and six rounds of tournament play, Renner found himself back in the championship match against Lake Oswego’s Nilay Naik on Sunday.

After a decisive 4&3 victory over Naik, the 2022 Summit High graduate is once again a champion.

Just like a year ago when he won the tournament at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash., Renner had his mother, Molly, as his caddy for the entire tournament.

“We just have so much fun together,” Molly Renner said. “It is probably the best mother-son time we ever spend together. It is all off-the-hip conversation, he can motivate himself. It is just mom, son, 150-plus holes of amazing good time together. I don’t think I would trade it for anything.”

Added Sam Renner: “After last year we had to run it back. She keeps me calm. We don’t talk about golf at all and we haven’t in two straight PNGAs. She does a great job at keeping calm, and distracted, honestly. It is a blessing to have her walk 50-some miles in a week with me.”

After five days of golf – 18 holes of stroke play on both Tuesday and Wednesday, 18 holes of match play on Thursday, followed by 36 holes of match play on Friday and Saturday – Renner played a near flawless round of 18 holes at the Woodlands Course in Sunriver.

He shot a 30 on the front nine Sunday morning and capped off the first 18 holes with a score of 62, giving him a six-hole lead over Naik heading into the second round of 18 holes at the Meadows Course on Sunday afternoon.

“My putter was hot,” Renner said. “I really didn’t make any mistakes, which was the big thing. It is really good to play that well on the most important day of the week.”

Despite the hot start and early lead, which grew to seven holes after the 19th hole, Naik began chipping away at the lead when he won three straight holes.

But just as the gallery of Renner supporters began to show up on the course on the 26th hole, the top golfer at Washington State University delivered one of his best tee shots of the round to set up a birdie to reclaim a five-hole advantage.

“That definitely got me back,” Renner said. “My buddies showed up then and it was a perfect time to hit a good golf shot.”

Naik once again applied a little pressure after bringing the hole advantage back down to four after the 30th hole. Then on the 31st hole, Naik hit a great tee shot that landed approximately 10 feet from the pin.

Renner hit an even greater tee shot. Naik then missed his birdie putt, and Renner sank his to get a five-hole advantage with only five holes remaining. It was essentially the tournament-sealing hole.

“That was the shot that made me think, ‘This is why I work so hard,’” Renner said. “I had to step up and be confident. I could have lost that hole and it could have gone downhill from there. I had to make a move.”

Naik won the 32nd hole, then they tied on the 33rd hole, but by then Renner had built a big enough lead to secure the title.