Dylan Meyer watches putt during Round of 16
(USGA Photo)
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI (August 18, 2016) -- In what
was maybe the match of the week thus far at the U.S.
Amateur, No. 33 Dylan Meyer took down No. 17 Sam
Horsfield in 19 holes. It was the second time in two
weeks that Meyer defeated Horsfield in match play after
beating him in the
Western Amateur final.
Meyer, a junior at Illinois, took a 1 up lead on the
6th hole at Oakland Hills Country Club and held the lead
all the way until the par-3 17th hole when Horsfield
squared the match. With the match now all-square,
Horsfield appeared to be in a position to win the match
until Meyer rolled in a 10-foot par, saving putt that sent
the
match to extra holes.
“It was pretty stressful,” said Meyer of his match
saving putt on the 18th. “I knew that there was a lot of
heat on it, and I knew that I had to make it to extend
the match. As coach (Mike Small, head coach at Illinois)
preaches, we own 10-footers, we own 6-footers, we
own these putts that put us in these positions, and as a
good player, you're going to be in these positions. You
have to be clutch, and it's how you respond.”
Back on the par-4 opening hole, both players found
the fairway off the tee. Meyer found the green on his
second shot, while Horsfield went long over the green
and after a well executed chip, he had a look at par.
Before Horsfield could putt out, Meyer had a long
birdie putt for the win that came up short. After the putt
was conceded Horsfield had a short putt to extend the
match that would end up sliding by, a startling
conclusion to a well played match.
“I'm a lot tougher than what I give myself credit
for,” Meyer said. “In these situations, it's one of those
things that you dream of. Growing up, you watched
Tiger (Woods) playing in majors and you watched all
these guys make all these clutch putts, and you're like,
wow, I want to be able to do that. Can I do that? And,
just that putt (today I really showed that I can do these
things.”
With the win, Meyer moves onto the quarterfinals
and continues his quest to become the 12th player to
win
the Western Amateur and U.S Amateur in the same
year. He would join the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger
Woods and the last to do it Danny Lee.
One of the more unlikely wins of the Round of 16
came from the hometown kid, No. 41 Nick Carlson as he
rallied late to defeat Cal's KK Limbhasut, the eight-seed.
Carlson out of the University of Michigan. led 3 up after
three holes only to see Limbhasut storm back and take
a 1 up lead on the 13th. Carlson would square the
match on the next hole, but once more Limbhasut took
the lead on the 15th.
The emotional Carlson still trailed with one hole
remaining, however once AmateurGolf.com member
Limbhasut slipped up with a
double-bogey the match was squared and headed to
extra holes.
Similar to the Meyer-Horsfield match one playoff
hole was enough as Carlson poured in a lengthy birdie
putt to take the match in 19 holes. Once the putt
dropped, Carlson gave out an emphatic yell worthy of a
player heading to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals in his
home state.
“It was unreal,” Carlson said. “I can't even describe
it. There were so many people on this last hole. I was
feeding off them on 18. My caddie told me to slow down
and breathe on No.1 tee (of the playoff). Luckily enough
we did, and I didn't really realize how amazing it was to
have this big of a crowd until that last putt went in. Just
to look out and see people three-deep all around the
green, it was pretty special."
ROUND OF 32 RECAP
The cinderella story that is No. 61, Sahith Theegala
of Pepperdine continued as he bested No. 20 Joaquin
Niemann 3&1. In a seesaw match Theegala rolled in
some long putts when he needed them most. Theegala
led 3 up after eight holes only to have Niemann, the
two-time defending IMG Junior World champion, win
three straight holes and tie the match. Following a pair
of halves, Theegala won three of the next four holes to
pull away late.
The highest remaining seed according to number is
No. 62 David Boote. However, Boote is a well
accomplished player for Stanford, that won the 2015
Welsh Amateur title. Boote advanced with a 2&1 victory
over Collin Morikawa, an AmateruGolf.com member and
Cal golfer. The match was all-square through four holes
but wins on three of the next four gave Boote a 3 up
lead.
Morikawa did battle back to draw within 1 down
after a 12th hole win, but Boote was too much as he
won
the 14th to create the separation he needed.
There were a pair of close matches that concluded
the Round of 16. LSU's Luis Gagne advanced as he
defeated No. 26 Jimmy Stanger of Virginia. Gagne won
the 16th and 17th holes to win 3&1.
The other nip and tuck match went extra holes and
it was Oklahoma's Brad Dalke surviving in 19 holes
against No. 22 Bryan Baumgarten of Illinois. Dalke, the
38-seed, led heading into the last hole but bogeyed the
hole allowing Baumgarten to extend the match. The
Sooner sophomore would not be fazed by the slip up
and his par on the first playoff hole punched his ticket
to Friday.
In the first Round of 16 match to conclude No. 31
Jonah Texeira
blitzed No. 50 Kyler Dunkle 6&5. Texeira of USC
sprinted out to a 5 up lead through seven holes and
never looked back as he wrapped things up on the 12th
hole.
No. 28 Curtis Luck of Australia was also a big
winner beating No. 44 Cameron Young of Wake Forest
6&4. Luck took the lead on the 6th hole with a birdie
and played relentless golf the rest of the way with wins
on five of the next eight holes.
QUARTERFINAL MATCHES
*By qualifying for the quarterfinals all eight
players are exempt from 2017 U.S. Amateur
qualifying. Next years tournament will be played at
Riviera Country Club
-No. 33 Dylan Meyer vs. No. 41
Nick Carlson
-No. 61
Sahith Theegala vs. No. 28 Curtis Luck
-No. 31 Jonah Texeira vs. No. 10 Luis Gagne
-No. 62 David Boote vs. No. 38 Brad Dalke
-The USGA contributed to this story