Beau Hossler began his first-round match Wednesday morning against Miller Capps like he was going to be the first U.S. Junior Amateur medalist to lose his opening match at this championship since 2002. The 16-year-old Californian, who qualified for last month's U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, lost his first four holes, two coming with double-bogey 6s.
But Hossler shook off the early jitters to rally for a 3-and-2 victory.
From the fifth through the 16th hole, which is where the match concluded, the Mission Viejo resident registered seven birdies against no bogeys. It was the kind of golf he showcased during stroke play in shooting 68-67 over the 7,133-yard, par-72 Olympic Course layout at Gold Mountain Golf Club. Hossler made just one bogey over the 36-hole qualifying -- and that came at the par-4 10th hole, his first of the competition.
"I figured it out a little bit," said Hossler, who next faces Austin Smotherman of Loomis, Calif., a 6-and-5 winner over Sulman Raza of Eugene, Ore. "Once I was 4 down, I wasn't afraid of losing more holes. I knew I was going to make birdies because I was making birdies all week. I was just waiting for it [to happen]."