THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Two talented 17-year-olds at the top of their games garnered co-medalists honors following a frenetic and exciting second day of stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.
The cut came at 5-over 149, and the day ended with a nine-way playoff for the final five spots to fill out of the field of 64 who advance to match play, which will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23 at The Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course.
Sam Horsfield, of England, and Sean Crocker, of Zimbabwe, finished with a two-round total of 7-under 137 to stand atop the stroke-play leader board, one stroke in front of first-round leader Davis Riley (71), of Hattiesburg, Miss., Will Grimmer (67), of Cincinnati and Dominic Foos (68), of Germany, who were tied at 6-under 138.
Horsfield was off in the first grouping of the day and shot a 3-under 69 to go with his first-round 68.
I was trying to make birdies but I also wasn’t trying to do anything stupid, said Horsfield of his strategy for today. I like being a higher seed. So I’m just going to go out and play my game and hopefully it’s good enough.
Crocker, playing three groups later on the opposite side of the golf course, followed up his first-round 71 with a sparkling 6-under 66 that included a then-championship-record score of 30 for his first nine holes.
I was at 1-under fast after I birdied the first hole, and then I birdied the next par 5, said Crocker of his opening-nine 30. Then all of a sudden I make more birdies, and on 18 – my ninth hole – I hit a 4-iron from 230 to about a foot away and was like whoa, I’m 6-under after nine. It just happened so quick.
On day where the scores were nearly as hot as the weather, that would only stand as a record for roughly six more hours.
Eric Bae, of Cary, N.C., played in the afternoon and found himself at 6 over par through 27 holes, knowing he needed to make a move just to make the cut to match play. He did that and more, firing a 7-under 29 on his second nine holes to set a championship record. His incredible stretch included five birdies and an eagle – a holed wedge shot from 60 yards on the 377-yard sixth hole – on holes 3 through 9.
I was just trying to make a move because I shot 2 over on my front nine so I really needed to step it up, said Bae. I started hitting fairways and that was pretty much the difference.
The first-round leader, Davis Riley, of Hattiesburg, Miss., at one point looked like he would be in position to finish as the medalist. Playing in the afternoon, he made the turn in 3 under par to reach 8 under for the championship, and was still without a bogey through 29 holes. But he then hit his tee shot into the water hazard at the par-3 third hole (his 12th of the day) to lead to his first of two double bogeys and an eventual 71.
I played really solid, five birdies and two doubles, said a positive Riley. I only had one really bad swing all day so I have a lot of confidence going into the match play portion of it. I’m really excited.
Three players finished at 4-under 140 to round out the rest of the top eight seeds for match play: Braden Thornberry (71), of Olive Branch, Miss., Ryan Ruffels (68), of Australia and William Zalatoris (69), of Plano, Texas.
A trio of quarterfinalists from the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur also easily advanced to match play once again. Cameron Young, of Scarborough, N.Y., shot 70 today to finish at 3-under 141; Zecheng Dou, of the People’s Republic of China, shot a second consecutive 72 to stand at even-par 144; and John Augenstein, of Owensboro, Ky., is at 2-over 146 after a second straight 73.
Dou was one of four players from the People’s Republic of China in the field at the start of the championship, all of whom made the cut to match play. Last week at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., Fumie (Alice) Jo became the first player from mainland China to win a USGA championship.
Following the conclusion of 36 holes, nine players were tied at 5-over 149, with only five spots in match play remaining. The playoff began at the par-3 12th hole, where Justin Conant, of Westerville, Ohio, and Joshua McCarthy, of Danville, Calif., each made birdie to advance and one player, Ashton Poole, made a bogey to be eliminated.
The remaining six players made par and proceeded to the par-5 13th hole to continue the playoff for the final three spots. On the 13th, David Laskin, of Elk Grove, Calif., and Priyanshu Singh, of India made birdie, while Dylan McCabe, of Sioux City, Iowa made par, to advance to the round of 64.
Live scoring for all matches will be available at www.usga.org.
Greg Midland is the director of editorial and multimedia content for the USGA. Email him at gmidland@usga.org.
Results
THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Results from Tuesday’s second round of stroke-play qualifying at the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, conducted at The Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course (7,181 yards, par 72):
Sean Crocker, Zimbabwe 71-66--137
Sam Horsfield, England 68-69--137
Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, Miss. 67-71--138
Will Grimmer, Cincinnati, Ohio 71-67--138
Dominic Foos, Germany 70-68--138
Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss. 69-71--140
Ryan Ruffels, Australia 72-68--140
William Zalatoris, Plano, Texas 71-69--140
Cameron Young, Scarborough, N.Y. 71-70--141
Jacob Solomon, Dublin, Calif. 69-72--141
Tony Gil, Canada 69-72--141
Curtis Luck, Australia 75-66--141
Brad Dalke, Hobart, Okla. 69-72--141
Shuai Ming Wong, People's Republic of China 72-69--141
Charles Kim, Cedar Park, Texas 71-71--142
Cheng Jin, People's Republic of China 69-73--142
Nathan Jeansonne, Keithville, La. 74-68--142
Zach Murray, Australia 72-71--143
Bryce Hendrix, Greenville, N.C. 70-73--143
Eric Bae, Cary, N.C. 76-67--143
Austin Connelly, Irving, Texas 71-72--143
Andy Zhang, People's Republic of China 71-72--143
Davis Shore, Knoxville, Tenn. 71-72--143
John Pak, Scotch Plains, N.J. 72-72--144
Zecheng Dou, People's Republic of China 72-72--144
Joshua Sedeno, Roseville, Calif. 68-76--144
Doc Redman, Raleigh, N.C. 71-73--144
Alex Smalley, Wake Forest, N.C. 75-70--145
Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, Wis. 69-76--145
Ashwin Arasu, San Diego, Calif. 72-73--145
Won Jun Lee, Republic of Korea 70-76--146
Keenan Huskey, Greenville, S.C. 74-72--146
John Augenstein, Owensboro, Ky. 73-73--146
John Mancinotti, Toledo, Ohio 69-77--146
Jorge Villar, Mexico 75-71--146
Cole Madey, West Linn, Ore. 76-70--146
Dwight Cauthen, Columbia, S.C. 72-75--147
Justin Suh, San Jose, Calif. 78-69--147
Trevor Ranton, Canada 75-72--147
Charlie Miller, Jackson, Miss. 74-73--147
Blake Dyer, Saint Petersburg, Fla. 76-71--147
Marcus Byrd, Dunwoody, Ga. 73-74--147
Colin Bowles, Oceana, W.Va. 74-73--147
Tanner Owens, Milton, Tenn. 74-73--147
Peter Jones, Owatonna, Minn. 74-73--147
Jake Staiano, Englewood, Colo. 73-74--147
Bryson Nimmer, Bluffton, S.C. 76-71--147
Frankie Capan III, North Oaks, Minn. 74-73--147
Sahith Theegala, Chino Hills, Calif. 78-69--147
Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. 77-71--148
Aaron DeNucci, Clive, Iowa 70-78--148
Anton Serafini, Lake Mary, Fla. 77-71--148
Spencer Ralston, Gainesville, Ga. 74-74--148
Easton Paxton, Riverton, Wyo. 75-73--148
David Snyder, McAllen, Texas 77-71--148
Will Dickson, Providence, R.I. 74-74--148
Caleb Proveaux, Lexington, S.C. 71-77--148
Andreas Halvorsen, Norway 72-76--148
Austen Sandoval, Sacramento, Calif. 76-72--148
Joshua McCarthy, Danville, Calif. 75-74—149*
Justin Conant, Westerville, Ohio 73-76—149*
Dylan McCabe, Sioux City, Iowa 76-73--149*
Ashton Poole, Charlotte, N.C. 76-73--149*
Patrick Welch, Providence, R.I. 75-74--149*
Chase Cutshall, Melbourne, Fla. 75-74--149*
David Laskin, Elk Grove, Calif. 74-75--149*
Priyanshu Singh, India 71-78--149*
Luis Gagne, Orlando, Fla. 71-78--149*
*=playoff; nine players for five spots
----------The following players failed to make the cut (149):----------
Alexander Lee, Sacramento, Calif. 79-71--150
Michael Saccente, New Smyrna Beach, Fla. 76-74--150
Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss. 73-77--150
Mason Glinski, Oxnard, Calif. 74-76--150
Tyler Bakich, Valrico, Fla. 77-73--150
Joshua Gliege, Eagle, Idaho 72-78--150
Ryan Han, Hollister, Calif. 71-80--151
Tristan Mandur, Canada 77-74--151
Cooper Dossey, Austin, Texas 77-74--151
A. J. Ott, Fort Collins, Colo. 77-74--151
Max Sear, Canada 73-78--151
Steven Fisk, Stockbridge, Ga. 79-72--151
James Piot, Canton, Mich. 77-74--151
Maxwell Miller, College Station, Texas 77-74--151
John Felitto, Mountainside, N.J. 76-76--152
Carl Yuan, Lake Mary, Fla. 77-75--152
Zach Tracy, Houston, Texas 77-75--152
Spencer Soosman, Westlake Village, Calif. 77-75--152
Gordon Neale, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. 70-82--152
Kyle Suppa, Honolulu, Hawaii 77-75--152
Garrett Barber, West Palm Beach, Fla. 79-74--153
Jake Chanen, Phoenix, Ariz. 76-77--153
Mitchell Schow, Ogden, Utah 70-83--153
Brandon Ahn, Glendale, Calif. 73-80--153
Luukas Alakulppi, Valdosta, Ga. 77-76--153
Christian Salzer, Sumter, S.C. 77-76--153
Preston Ball, Raleigh, N.C. 75-78--153
Jack Trent, Australia 78-75--153
Samuel Foust, Edina, Minn. 74-79--153
Dylan Deogun, Orchard Lake, Mich. 77-77--154
Brady Price, The Woodlands, Texas 73-81--154
Zachary Zediker, Gray, Ga. 77-77--154
Sean Yu, Chinese Taipei 77-77--154
Logan Sowell, Kershaw, S.C. 76-78--154
Noah Goodwin, Corinth, Texas 80-74--154
Bennett Wisner, Hampstead, Md. 82-72--154
Levi Valadez, San Antonio, Texas 76-78--154
Jonathan Hudson, Western Springs, Ill. 79-76--155
Nicholas Costello, Austin, Texas 75-80--155
Chris Yeom, New Hyde Park, N.Y. 72-83--155
Ryan Dornes, Lancaster, Pa. 78-78--156
Matt Marrese, Bellevue, Wash. 75-81--156
Tyler Tsay, Andover, Mass. 79-77--156
Daniel Connolly, San Francisco, Calif. 80-76--156
Chris Meyers, Oro Valley, Ariz. 75-81--156
Drake Hull, Rutland, Vt. 81-75--156
Tom Vining, Sioux Falls, S.D. 81-75--156
Ivan Camilo Ramirez, Colombia 74-82--156
Alex Wrenn, Lake Oswego, Ore. 77-79--156
Ryoto Furuya, Wesley Chapel, Fla. 77-79--156
Warren Miller, Bakersfield, Calif. 77-80--157
Isaiah Jackson, Golden, Miss. 73-84--157
Billy Basham, Louisville, Ky. 83-74--157
Joshua Keating, Noblesville, Ind. 80-77--157
Wil Sheppard, Mount Pleasant, S.C. 74-84--158
Connor Littlefield, Waukee, Iowa 78-80--158
Gehrig Hollatz, Lockport, Ill. 84-75--159
Kyle Hogan, Cypress, Texas 81-78--159
Noah Gillard, Greenwood, Ind. 80-79--159
Taylor Larsen, Garden City, Kan. 82-77--159
Jackson Bowery, Canada 79-80--159
Sport Allmond, Ringgold, Ga. 78-82--160
Jae Hoon (Ian) Kim, Canada 79-81--160
Andrew Spear, Flower Mound, Texas 80-80--160
Pierceson Coody, Plano, Texas 81-80--161
Frankie Thomas, Chesterfield, Mo. 80-81--161
Jackson Howes, McKinney, Texas 78-83--161
Cole Patterson, Greenville, S.C. 83-79--162
Austin Squires, Union, Ky. 84-78--162
Andrew Spilman, Simi Valley, Calif. 85-77--162
Evan Grenus, Glastonbury, Conn. 81-81--162
Brian Humphreys, Washougal, Wash. 85-78--163
Mark Nauert, Valrico, Fla. 75-88--163
Jaece Stokes, West Haven, Utah 82-82--164
Davis Evans, Phoenix, Ariz. 78-87--165
Noah Henderson, Solana Beach, Calif. 84-82--166
Ethan Farnam, Crystal Lake, Ill. 83-83--166
Baker Stevenson, Hartland, Mich. 82-85--167
Anthony Cordaro, Pittsburgh, Pa. 81-86--167
Michael Frizalone, Farmingdale, N.Y. 84-85--169
Scott Purvis, Mason, Ohio 82-87--169
Jordan Velez, Chicago, Ill. 80-92--172
Michael Mattiace, Jacksonville, Fla. 89-84--173
Jack Kavanagh, Arlington Heights, Ill. 86-88--174
Drew Aitken, Pomfret Center, Conn. 90-88--178
Zackary Kaneshiro, Aiea, Hawaii 92-86--178
R. J. Manke, Lakewood, Wash. 96-94--190
Timothy Graham, Stuart, Fla. WD
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