PHOTO COURTESY STANFORD

We forward these numbers not to suggest they guarantee anything. Golf is, after all, a most fickle sport. But the following numbers do supply a good sense for the sort of roll Michael Thorbjornsen has been on in recent weeks and why he deserves a round of applause.

Digest these:

Thorbjornsen is 76-under par for 269 holes, which computes to approximately 4.75 under par for each of his last 16 rounds, and with 100 birdies (and 1 eagle) over that stretch, he’s making a birdie every 2.6 holes.

Given the sea of red in which these numbers are swimming, it’s no surprise that the Wellesley golfer has raised a pair of trophies in the last three weeks: On Saturday, July 17, Thorbjornsen recorded a dominating victory in the championship of the Massachusetts Amateur at Brae Burn CC, then on Saturday, July 31 he breezed to the title at the prestigious Western Amateur outside of Chicago.

In six stroke-play rounds – two at the Mass. Am (73-64) where he finished second in qualifying; four at the Western Am (68-62-70-67) where he was medalist – Thorbjornsen was immense.

(Assuming, of course, that you accept that a 67.33 scoring average is immense.)

Thorbjornsen was 7-under at Brae Burn, 13-under at the Glen View Club and he combined for 1 eagle, 32 birdies, 10 bogeys, and two doubles in those six stroke-play rounds.

Each tournament morphed into the mysterious ways of match play, but being on the roll he’s on, Thorbjornsen’s rhythm has stayed in tune. He played five matches at the Mass. Am (including a scheduled 36-hole finale) and four more at the Western Am and the data reads like this:

In a total of 161 holes, Thorbjornsen led for 130, trailed for just 6, and he lost only 16 holes, or 1.6 holes for the 10 rounds of match play in which he competed.

In five of his nine matches, Thorbjornsen never trailed and only two of those games reached the 18th hole.

Clearly, Thorbjornsen is peaking at the perfect time, given that the U.S. Amateur gets under way next Monday at vaunted Oakmont outside of Pittsburgh. And if you’re wondering if the 19-year-old Thorbjornsen can handle the nerves of that championship, take note that a year ago he made it to the quarterfinals before being ousted.

So, yeah, the sophomore-to-be at Stanford seems to be hitting his stride at just the right time. Heck, his biggest fear might be tendinitis in his shoulder if he keeps lifting championship hardware.