The 7-under 133 posted by Smalley matched the second lowest qualifying score in tournament history. Smalley tied Brett Coletta's mark from a year ago and finished one-stroke behind Hank Kim (1994), Gregor Main (2011) and Bobby Wyatt (2012).

“I’m kind of shaking a little bit, still. I'm not sure what to feel,” Smalley told reporters following his round. “This is my first U.S. Amateur, so it's kind of cool taking home medalist. Medalist is nice, but we've still got a lot more golf to go.”

Heavy rains soaked the course during the morning wave but by the time Smalley took to the course the rains had gone leaving soft conditions. The Duke sophomore jumped out to a quick start with birdies on two of his first three holes and after a third on No. 8 he had reached 8-under. Following a par on the 9th Smalley turned in 3-under 32.

Smalley got a little lower, as he reached 9-under with another birdie on the 10th before giving his first stroke back on No. 12. Three holes later Smalley carded his final birdie of the day to return to 9-under. From there Smalley held on as he carded two bogeys on the way in.

“I just got off to a good start, had three birdies on the front nine, and then just kind of kept it going,” Smalley said. “Again, I didn't miss very many greens today. I think I only missed a couple. I just hit the ball solid all the way around.”

Finishing in second place, one-stroke behind Smalley were first round leader Dawson Armstrong and Gavin Hall. Both players played in the morning rain on the South Course Tuesday and finished 6-under.