Tim Jackson during his Round of 32 match
(USGA Photo)
ST. LOUIS, MO (September 20, 2016) -- In a U.S.
Senior Amateur Round of 16 battle between two of
the top USGA amateur players in recent memory it
was top-seed Tim Jackson outlasting No. 17 Patrick
Tallent 2&1.
Jackson, a two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur
champion, won the 1st and 6th holes at Old Warson
Country Club to take command of the match early.
Tallent, the 2014 champion from Vienna, VA, won
the 8th hole to get within 1 down, but that was as
close as he would get.
Unfazed by losing No. 8, Jackson, from
Germantown, TN, pushed his lead to 3 up with a
birdie on the 9th and a victory on No. 10. From there
he was able to maintain his lead and close out the
match on the 17th.
In his morning Round of 32 match, Jackson
defeated No. 33 Bryan Norton, of Mission Hills, KN, 2
up. Jackson led much of the way and sealed the deal
with a birdie on the 18th hole.
Another notable to advance to the quarterfinals
is Savannah, GA native and 2013 champion Doug
Hanzel. Playing as the 11-seed, Hanzel defeated No.
38 Mike Brummer (Rapid City, SD) 2&1 after winning
four out of five
holes between holes 7 and 11. Hanzel, currently the
2nd ranked senior in the AmateurGolf.com Rankings,
already has five senior titles to his name this year
including the Lupton Senior Invitational, the Hesler,
and the National Senior Hall of Fame.
“I'm hitting it really well, I'm just having a little
bit of trouble with the green speed,” said Hanzel,
who is advancing to the quarterfinals for the first
time since his title. “Because they have so much
break, your speed has to be right, and my speed on
some short putts wasn't so good today. I just have
to tighten up.”
One of the more surprising matches of the round
was the turnaround in the Dave Ryan (Taylorville, IL)
and Paul
Simson (Raleigh, NC) match. Simson, the 13-seed
and two-time
champion, led 2 up with three holes remaining but
with his back against the wall Ryan, the 29-seed,
won the 17th and 18th holes to square the match
and then he won it on the 20th hole.
The highlight of the match came on the par-4
14th hole when Ryan recorded a hole-in-one, only
the third such recorded score in USGA championship
history.
“I was trying to drive the green,” said Ryan, who
recorded the 20th ace in Senior Amateur history and
the first since 2011. “I was down, and I was lucky it
went in. When you do something like that, it’s all
luck.”
Simson had made his way to the Round of 16
after handling defending champion Chip Lutz of
Reading, PA 5&3 in the Round of 32.
“It has been a great year, but it’s disappointing
to not carry on here,” said Lutz after his title defense
came to an end. “I didn’t play well today, which is
unfortunate, but Paul played pretty steady and I
couldn’t find much tempo.”
The most lopsided match in the Round
of 16 was Matthew Sughrue's (Arlington, VA) 5&4
upset of 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur winner and three-
seed Randal Lewis (Alma, MI). Sughrue, the 14-
seed playing in his first U.S. Senior Amateur, turned
a tie match after five holes into
runaway with wins on six of the next holes.
“My mindset is I have to knock them down one
at a time,” Sughrue said of his match play approach.
“It takes luck and a lot of patience to get through six
matches and be the winner. I think I have enough
game, but the field is so strong that you need some
luck to go your way.”
56-seed John McClure is the highest remaining
seed following his 1 up triumph over No. 8 Bob
Royak (Alpharetta, GA). McClure, from Los Angeles,
CA, squared the match on the 12th and it wasn't
until he won the decisive 18th did anyone else win a
hole.
Following the completion of the quarterfinals in
the morning will be the semifinals in the afternoon.
All quarterfinalist are exempt into next years U.S.
Senior Amateur.
Quarterfinal Matches
-All times are Central Time
No. 1 Tim Jackson vs. No 56 John McClure
(8:00 a.m.)
No. 29 Dave Ryan vs. No. 37 Michael Dunsmore
(8:10 a.m.)
No. 31 Kevin Cahill vs. No. 39 John Hornbeck (8:20
a.m.)
No. 14 Matthew Sughrue vs. No. 11 Doug Hanzel
(8:30 a.m.)
-The USGA contributed to this story
ABOUT THE U.S. Senior Amateur
The USGA Senior Amateur is open to those
with a USGA Handicap Index of 7.4 or lower,
who are 55 or older on or before the day the
championship begins. It is one of 14 national
championships conducted annually by the
USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
View Complete Tournament Information