U.S. Amateur: Medalist upset in round of 32

August 13, 2020 | by Brayden Conover of AmateurGolf.com

Harrison Ott defeated 1-seed Wilson Furr in 19 holes (USGA)

What you need to know as the Round of 32 begins its march to the Sweet 16

The field of 32 that began the day will dwindle down to just eight by the time the sun moves past the horizon of the Pacific at Bandon Dunes.

Before the field is trimmed to eight, it must first be cut to 16. Here is how the morning session shook out as the Round of 32 comes to a close.

Stewart Hagestad

The 29-year-old Southern Cal grad continues to roll in his 10th U.S. Amateur. Hagestad, who has had an already illustrious career as an amateur, defeated Spencer Tibbits (48) 3&1 to advance to the Sweet 16.

Tibbits, a senior at Oregon State, could not grab any momentum as Hagestad commanded a 4 up lead through the first 10 holes. Finally gaining ground with his first win of the day coming on No. 11, Tibbits trimmed Hagestad’s lead to just 1 up with wins on Nos. 13 and 14. Using his plentiful experience in match play to regain composure, Hagestad tallied wins on Nos. 16 and 17 to be the first player to punch his card into the Round of 16.

Getting (H)Ott

No. 1 overall seed and medalist Wilson Furr survived the first round, unlike 14 other medalists have since 1992. Facing off against Harrison Ott in the Round of 32, the Alabama senior could not continue his quest to become just the third medalist to win the match-play portion of the Amateur since 1992.

Back and forth all morning, Ott gained a 2 up advantage early with back-to-back birdies on holes Nos. 3 and 4. Turning the tide, Furr won three of four holes (10, 12, 13) to give him his first lead of the day. Furr carried the 1 up lead through the 17th. That was when Ott clutched up on the 18th, making birdie on the 560-yard par-5 to force extra holes.

Playing the 375-yard par-4 1st, Furr folded as he jotted a double-bogey six on his card to Ott’s par. The Vanderbilt product will face the hot-handed mid-am Stewart Hagestad in the afternoon session.

North & South & West

2020 North & South champion Tyler Strafaci continued his remarkable summer Thursday morning at Bandon Dunes. Strafaci squared off against Arkansas’ Peruvian import Julian Perico who has had one of the more consistent summers among the collegiate ranks.

Evenly matched on the front-nine, Perico took a 1 up lead on the 6th before winning the 10th to give himself a 2 up advantage. But then Strafaci found his game. Carding wins on five of the next seven holes and only losing the par-3 15th to the Razorback, Strafaci played the final eight holes at 4-under which included an eagle on the par-5 13th that gave him the lead.

Strafaci clinched a spot into the afternoon’s Sweet 16 on the 17th hole, winning the hole for a 2 up victory.

The Power of Thor

Michael Thorbjornsen must really like the West Coast. Heading to Stanford as an incoming freshman later this month, Thorbjornsen is making himself right at home just a few hundred miles to the north of Palo Alto. The future Cardinal took down Sweden’s Hugo Townsend 4&2 after Townsend held a 2 up lead through No. 7.

Thorbjornsen simply dominated the final nine holes, winning seven of them including five of the last six, icing the match with a birdie on No. 16.

Four-Sport 4&3

Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett continues his run at the U.S. Amateur. The former four-sport high school athlete admitted Wednesday that golf was his “least favorite” sport citing that it was the “least competitive” of the four he played growing up (basketball, baseball, tennis). The small-town Texan must have some competitive fire stirring within him this week as he took down Clay Feagler in the same fashion that Feagler won his Round of 64 match; 4&3.

Lonely at the top

Aman Gupta, one of the last players to get into the field (he replaced Ricky Castillo who withdrew due to illness), is the only top-10 seed to advance to the third round. The No. 5 seed defeated Jonathan Yaun and will next face Bennett this afternoon.

Related: August Madness? A statistical look at the U.S. Amateur bracket

The Round of 16 will be broadcast beginning at 6:00 pm EST on NBC’s free streaming service Peacock before switching over to Golf Channel at 7:00 pm EST

Results: US Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Tyler Strafaci	Davie, FL	2000
Runner-up	Charles (Ollie) Osborne	Reno, NV	1500
Semifinals	Aman Gupta	Concord, NC	1000
Semifinals	Matt Sharpstene	Asheville, NC	1000
Quarterfinals	Stewart Hagestad	Newport Beach, CA	700

View full results for US Amateur

About the US Amateur

U.S. Amateur: Medalist upset in round of 32

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 .4 (point four) or lower. It is one of 15 national champ...