Patrick Rodgers
BROOKLINE, Mass. (Aug. 14, 2013) -- For all
of the great talent that qualified for
match play on Monday and Tuesday --- and
through Wednesday morning’s 17-for-15
playoff --- there were quite a few marquee
names that missed the cut at the U.S.
Amateur.
While Walker Cup selection Patrick Rodgers
snuck through to match play by way of
the morning playoff, the other four initial
picks by the USGA went home early.
Max Homa, Cory Whitsett, Justin Thomas and
Michael Kim all missed match play.
Homa, who won the NCAA individual title in
June, shot 78-71 and missed the cut by
five shots. Whitsett, who gained early Walker
Cup access in part to his impressive win
earlier this summer at the Northeast Amateur,
shot 72-74. Justin Thomas, who’ll turn
professional following the Walker Cup, went
75-72 and Michael Kim, the Haskins Award
winner and low amateur at the 2013 U.S.
Open, shot 81-73.
Walker Cup players weren’t the only big
names to miss the cut. Beau Hossler, Peter
Williamson, Robby Shelton, Garrett Rank,
Cameron Wilson and defending champion
Steven Fox all missed the cut along with mid-
amateurs Scott Harvey, Nathan Smith,
Michael McCoy and Patrick Christovich.
REMATCHES RULE THE DAY
Two of the first-round bouts were rematches
of important matches in recent and
distant amateur golf history.
Jim Liu, who won the 2010 U.S. Junior
Amateur, faced Chelso Barrett in Wednesday’s
Round of 64. Barrett, of course, defeated Liu
in the 2011 U.S. Junior when Liu was primed to
repeat.
Barrett went all the way to the final match
before falling to Jordan Spieth.
Barrett also came out on top Wednesday. The
TCU-bound New Hampshire native
topped Liu, heading to Stanford, 3-and-2.
Another, more recent, replay was between
Patrick Rodgers and Sean Dale.
Rodgers medaled during stroke-play qualifying
at last week’s Western Amateur. In the
first round of match play, Dale, the No. 16
seed, beat him. Dale, a recent University
of North Florida graduate, went on to take
second place, losing to Jordan Niebrugge in
the championship match.
The match between Niebrugge and Seth
Reeves was also a Western Amateur redux.
Niebrugge beat Reeves at the Western en
route to the title but Reeves, who plays out
of Georgia Tech, beat Niebrugge Wednesday
at The Country Club.
WINDY CITY
Forget Chicago. On Wednesday, Brookline was
the windy city. Strong gusts challenged
players on nearly every hole and made The
Country Club even harder to score on than
advertised.
Thanks to the wind, both Seth Reeves and
Brandon Hagy --- two experienced
tournament players --- called The Country
Club the hardest course they’ve ever
played. The combination of elements and
features, including the U.S. Open-style
rough, made The Country Club a tough place
to play.
ABOUT THE U.S. Amateur
The U.S. Amateur, the oldest USGA
championship, was first played in 1895 at
Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island. The
event,
which has no age restriction, is open to
those
with a Handicap Index of 2.4 or lower. It is
one
of 14 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA, 10 of which are
strictly
for amateurs. It is the pre-eminent
amateur
competition in the world.
Applications are typically placed online in the spring
at www.usga.org.
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