PINEHURST, North Carolina (June 26, 2018) - Kentucky rising senior Cooper Musselman backed up his opening round 67 with a 1-over-par 71 this afternoon, securing medalist honors and the top-seed moving into the match play portion of the 117th North & South Amateur.

Musselman began his day steadily, only bogeying the 4th hole on the front, offset by a birdie on No. 9 to bring him back to 3-under-par for the tournament. He went lower with a birdie on the 483-yard par-4 before giving a few shots back on the 16th and 17th holes.

“Sort of got a bad break off the tee on No. 16, but then hit a poor third shot and ended up making double,” Cooper explained.

He then proceeded to three-putt on No. 17 for a bogey and subsequently missed his tee shot right of the 18th fairway. But just as it looked as if we might have a three way tie for the top qualifier, the Kentucky Wildcat showed us the kind of clutch player he is, smashing a seven iron from the waste area to set up a birdie putt that he would drain for the outright lead.

“I had a good number and got it on the green to about 30-feet,” said Musselman. “…just hit a good putt and it happened to drop. I feel like that birdie will give me some good momentum heading into match play.”

Other top finishers include Duke's Alex Smalley, the recent Sunnehanna Amateur champion. Smalley is currently a shot back at 1-under-par (71-68=139).

NC State golfer Benjamin Shipp shot the lowest round of qualifying this afternoon, a 5-under-par 65 that included six birdies and only a single bogey that came on the par-5 5th hole.

Match play will begin on Wednesday, June 27th at 7 a.m. EST.

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