U.S. Amateur Notebook: A day of rematches, big names ousted & more

BROOKLINE, Mass. (Aug. 14, 2013) -- For all of the great talent that qualified for match play on Monday and Tuesday --- and through Wednesday morning’s 17-for-15 playoff --- there were quite a few marquee names that missed the cut at the U.S. Amateur.

While Walker Cup selection Patrick Rodgers snuck through to match play by way of the morning playoff, the other four initial picks by the USGA went home early.

Max Homa, Cory Whitsett, Justin Thomas and Michael Kim all missed match play.

Homa, who won the NCAA individual title in June, shot 78-71 and missed the cut by five shots. Whitsett, who gained early Walker Cup access in part to his impressive win earlier this summer at the Northeast Amateur, shot 72-74. Justin Thomas, who’ll turn professional following the Walker Cup, went 75-72 and Michael Kim, the Haskins Award winner and low amateur at the 2013 U.S. Open, shot 81-73.

Walker Cup players weren’t the only big names to miss the cut. Beau Hossler, Peter Williamson, Robby Shelton, Garrett Rank, Cameron Wilson and defending champion Steven Fox all missed the cut along with mid- amateurs Scott Harvey, Nathan Smith, Michael McCoy and Patrick Christovich.

REMATCHES RULE THE DAY

Two of the first-round bouts were rematches of important matches in recent and distant amateur golf history.

Jim Liu, who won the 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur, faced Chelso Barrett in Wednesday’s Round of 64. Barrett, of course, defeated Liu in the 2011 U.S. Junior when Liu was primed to repeat. Barrett went all the way to the final match before falling to Jordan Spieth.

Barrett also came out on top Wednesday. The TCU-bound New Hampshire native topped Liu, heading to Stanford, 3-and-2.

Another, more recent, replay was between Patrick Rodgers and Sean Dale.

Rodgers medaled during stroke-play qualifying at last week’s Western Amateur. In the first round of match play, Dale, the No. 16 seed, beat him. Dale, a recent University of North Florida graduate, went on to take second place, losing to Jordan Niebrugge in the championship match.

The match between Niebrugge and Seth Reeves was also a Western Amateur redux. Niebrugge beat Reeves at the Western en route to the title but Reeves, who plays out of Georgia Tech, beat Niebrugge Wednesday at The Country Club.

WINDY CITY

Forget Chicago. On Wednesday, Brookline was the windy city. Strong gusts challenged players on nearly every hole and made The Country Club even harder to score on than advertised.

Thanks to the wind, both Seth Reeves and Brandon Hagy --- two experienced tournament players --- called The Country Club the hardest course they’ve ever played. The combination of elements and features, including the U.S. Open-style rough, made The Country Club a tough place to play.