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Meet the 115th U.S. Amateur quarterfinalists
Arizona State senior Jon Rahm (USGA photo)
Arizona State senior Jon Rahm (USGA photo)

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — Long day No. 1 is over at Olympia Fields Country Club. Rounds 2 and 3 of the 115th U.S. Amateur were contested on Thursday at the property's North Course, whittling the field down from 32 to eight.

Friday will house the quarterfinal matches, with semifinal matches taking place Saturday. On Sunday, the grueling 36-hole final will commence at the former U.S. Open host course.

While the medalist and No. 1 seed Brett Coletta of Australia fell in Wednesday's first round, it was his conquerer, University of Michigan sophomore Kyle Mueller who bowed out on Thursday. After beating Alex Burge of Illinois in the morning, Mueller fell to Kenta Konishi of Japan 2-up.

Round-of-16 Recap: "Last Man In" advances while mid-amateur player Mitchell remains

The eight players left standing represent eight distinct parts of the world, including six different countries. Let's meet each of the quarterfinal contestants:

Jon RahmSpain
The Spaniard who is ranked No. 1 in the world in both the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings and the World Amateur Golf Rankings beat soon- to-be Wake Forest freshman Cameron Young of New York 7-and-6 on Wednesday morning to move on to the third round to face another junior golfer, Daniel Wetterich of Ohio. He handled the future Xavier University golfer from Cincinnati, winning with a birdie-2 at the par-3 17th to close out a 3-and-1 victory. Rahm, a senior at Arizona State, birdied four of his first 11 holes in the morning match, but truly benefited from his pars considering Young made bogey or worse on five of the 12 holes played. Rahm's first-round matchup on Wednesday was quite the opposite, as cross-state rival George Cunningham of the University of Arizona took Rahm to the 21st hole before Rahm advanced with a birdie at the par-4 3rd hole.

Derek BardNew Hartford, N.Y.
The University of Virginia junior was this year's Sunnehanna Amateur winner. He knocked off two SEC collegians on Thursday, first defeating Sepp Straka of Georgia 6-and-5, followed by coming from 2-down at the turn to beat Hunter Stewart of Vanderbilt 2-and-1. Bard's matchup on Friday morning with Rahm will be his toughest test yet.

Bryson DeChambeauClovis, Calif.
The No. 4 ranked amateur in the world, and reigning NCAA Individual champion, was part of the round-of-16's marquee matchup between a pair of California superstars. After both players won 5- and-4 during the round of 32, DeChambaeu and Stanford junior Maverick McNealy battled it out for a spot in the quarterfinals. Though the two were all- square through 10 holes, DeChambeau won three of the next four holes thanks to two birdies, winning with a halved bogey at the 16th.

Paul DunneIreland
This Irishman made headlines back in July when he shared the 54-hole lead at the British Open. Dunne, who played collegiately for the University of Alabama-Birmingham, has experience playing competitively in the United States, and even took fifth at this year's NCAA National Championship. Dunne defeated No. 2 seed David Oraee of Colorado in the round of 16 after South Carolina commit Caleb Proveaux suffered a 3-and-2 defeat at the hands of Dunne on Thursday morning.

Austin JamesCanada
The Canadian had two ridiculously tough matchups on the first two-match day of the tournament. James had to face 2015 Porter Cup champion Denny McCarthy in the morning and UCLA standout senior Jake Knapp, the tournament's No. 3 seed, in the afternoon. James only trailed during two holes, holes one and two of his second match. James defeated McCarthy 3-and-2, never trailing, and Knapp 2-and-1. He'll face another tough Pac-12 opponent on Friday morning.

Sean CrockerZimbabwe
Crocker, the 2014-2015 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, battled until the 20th hole with this year's Western Amateur medalist Robby Shelton. Crocker and the Alabama sophomore were back and fourth all match, with Shelton making a clutch birdie at 18 to force extra holes. Crocker drained a 15-foot putt on the 3rd extra hole while Shelton missed a putt inside three feet. Crocker successfully handled 2015 Monroe Invitational winner Adam Ball in the morning to advance to the round of 16.

Kenta KonishiJapan
Konishi needed to wrestle with two top Big-10 collegians to make it to this year's final eight. In the morning, Konishi ousted Belgium native and University of Illinois golfer Thomas Detry on the 19th hole after Detry won the 18th to force a playoff. Then Konishi took down the 64th seed Kyle Mueller 2- up, though Konishi never trailed throughout the match.

Matthew PerrineAustin, Texas
Perrine enters the quarterfinals as likely the most unknown of the group. Having just finished his freshman year at Auburn in the crowded SEC, Perrine is making headlines now. On Thursday, he defeated two notable mid-amateur players with both match play and USGA experience. In the morning, it was Brad Nurski, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up falling to Perrine, while the afternoon brought Perrine and Illinois' Todd Mitchell together. The Austin, Texas native beat the former U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up (2008) by a count of 4-and-3 to advance to Friday morning's matchup with Konishi.

Results: U.S. Amateur
WinCABryson DeChambeauClovis, CA2000
Runner-upNYDerek BardNew Hartford, NY1500
SemifinalsJapanKenta KonishiJapan1000
SemifinalsCASean CrockerLong Beach, CA1000
QuarterfinalsSpainJon RahmSpain700

View full results for U.S. Amateur

ABOUT THE U.S. Amateur

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 2.4 or lower. It is one of 14 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs. It is the pre-eminent amateur competition in the world. Applications are typically placed online in the spring at www.usga.org.

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