Two rounds of matches were played Thursday, as the big names started to knock each other out, and the margin between winning and losing continued to narrow.
Related: U.S. Amateur Round of 32 Match Play Report
The eight that remain include five Americans, and one each from Scotland, Australia and Chinese Taipei.
Round of 16 Highlights
Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, IL and the University of Texas beat Joey Vrzich of El Cajon, CA to make the quarterfinals. The Pacific Coast Amateur champion is no stranger to deep runs at USGA events; Ghim was a semifinalist in the 2013 U.S. Junior and a finalist in the 2014 U.S. Public Links Championship. He hopes to join his fellow Texas Longhorn Sophia Schubert as USGA Champions, as Schubert won the U.S. Women's Amateur just last week.
Travis Smyth is trying to follow in his countryman's footsteps and win back-to-back U.S. Amateur titles for Australia. Curtis Luck won the championship last year at Oakland Hills on the way the #1 World Ranking, and with consecutive wins over Braden Thornberry and Will Zalatoris, two of America's best, Smyth is in the right form to do it.
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Theo Humphrey and his father/caddie Tom
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"I love to see the growth he’s had," Vanderbilt coach Scott Limbaugh told Golfweek. "Everybody used to just think he was kind of a wilder player, and he’s just not anymore. He’s a guy who understands who he is as a player; he’s still an emotional player but he’s learned to make all of that work for him." "I think the biggest thing is confidence in my game, in what I’m doing,” Humphrey said. “I feel like the last few months I’ve stepped up on the golf course and expected to do well. I think in the past I had hoped to."
Connor Syme of Scotland had the shot of the day, a pitch in at the 18th hole to win his Round of 16 match against Kristoffer Ventura of Norway. Syme was the only amateur to get into the British Open through Final Qualifying, and he surely will be back in Southern California in three weeks' time for the Walker Cup Matches.
The quarterfinal matches will be played Friday afternoon, with the semifinals following on Saturday and the 36-hole final on Sunday.
Quarterfinal Matches
Connor Syme, Scotland v. Doug Ghim, Arlington Heights, IL
Theo Humphrey, Greenwich, CT v. Chun An Yu, Chinese Taipei
Dawson Armstrong, Brentwood, TN v. Mark Lawrence, Jr., Richmond, VA
Doc Redman, Raleigh, NC v. Travis Smyth, Australia
Related: TV Times and Schedule of Play