Scott Harvey (L) congratulates Alex Smalley (R) after Round of 64 match
(USGA Photo)
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI (August 17, 2016) -- The third
day of the 2016 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills
Country Club will certainly go down as one of the
more
fascinating days of the year.
The day began with a 23 player for eight spot
playoff. That chaotic event lasted four hours. Then,
in the late afternoon hours -- with the round-of-64
well
underway -- the rains came, suspending play for
roughly two hours. With darkness closing in,
medalist Alex Smalley barely avoid an early
exit.
Smalley, a sophomore at Duke, did not get an
easy
draw in the Round of 64 as he was pitted against Scott
Harvey, the top mid-amateur in the country.
In
a match that seesawed back and forth Smalley was
able
to survive 2&1.
Harvey, who claimed the final playoff spot on the
seventh hole in the morning, jumped out to an early
lead with a win
on
the second hole. Smalley was able to even the match
and then take the lead with wins on Nos. 5 and 6.
However, Harvey, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur winner
(with years of match play experience) was not going
anywhere.
Wins on the 8th and 9th holes put Harvey 1-up
once more. Following a tie on the 10th Smalley
would
respond in a big way, as he won the 11th to tie the
match, the 14th to take the lead for good and the
16th
to create some breathing room. Smalley closed out
the
match one hole later.
“I played with Scott earlier this summer at the
North Carolina Am, so I'm familiar with him,” said
Smalley. “So, I knew it was going to be
a tough day, and it was. I'm just glad I got out of
there
with the win.”
The medalist will have another tough battle tomorrow,
as he faces No. 33 seed Dylan
Meyer (the recent Western Am champ from the
University of Illinois) in the Round of 32.
“It's basically another tournament, a brand-new
tournament,” Smalley said. “It's a new day. Seeds
don't really matter in match play. It was nice getting
medalist. It was an honor, but I just had to start right
all over again.”
As for Harvey, he admitted that the long playoff
took a toll.
“I was OK for a couple holes, and then it's like, it
just caught right back up to me,” said Harvey, 38, of
Greensboro, N.C. “It's just the longest – one of the
longest days on the golf course I've ever had.”
The biggest upset of the day according to seed
was
62-seed David Boote defeating No. 3 Gavin Hall 3&2.
Boote survived the morning playoff to reach the
Round
of 64 and he started quickly against Hall with a wins
on
the 3rd and 5th holes to grab a 2 up lead.
Hall, a senior at Texas, did win the 6th hole but
that would be as close as he got.
Boote returned his lead to 2 up on No. 7 and then
stretched his advantage to 4 up after wins on the 9th
and 11th holes. The 2015 Welsh Amateur winner and
Stanford star was then able to close the match out on
the 16th green. He will now face No. 35 Ben
Schlottman
in the Round of 32.
In a battle of AmateurGolf.com members and Pac-
12 rivals eight-seed KK Limbhasut of California
outlasted 57-seed, Stanford's, Franklin Huang. The
match went back and forth all day long and it wasn't
decided until Limbhasut took a 1 up lead on the 16th
and then held on. Limbhasut will now face 40-seed
Cristobal Del Solar.
14-seed Collin Morikawa joined Cal teammate
Limbhasut in the Round of 32 with a 2&1 win over No.
51 Austin James. The AmateurGolf.com member
turned
an all-square match into a victory thanks to wins on
the
16th and 17th holes. Tomorrow morning Morikawa will
tussle with No. 19 Doug Ghim in a match that is
certainly intriguing.
One of the more interesting matches to watch
tomorrow features reigning British Amateur champion
Scott Gregory and Michigan Wolverine Nick Carlson.
Gregory, the nine-seed dominated his match 7&5
against No. 56 Raymond Knoll while Carlson won 2&1
over No. 24 Zach Foushee.
Some additional notable players to fall during the
Round of 64 were Wake Forest's Will Zalatoris and St.
Leo's Hugo Bernard. Zalatoris, the 27-seed, has won
the
Trans-Mississippi and Pacific Coast Amateur this
summer but on Wednesday he fell to No. 38 Brad
Dalke
1 up. Dalke who committed to Oklahoma as a 12-year-
old won the match with a birdie on the closing hole.
Bernard drew very difficult match as he faced No.
17 Sam Horsfield and feel 3&1. Late in the spring
Bernard won the NCAA Division II Individual title and
recently he captured the Canadian Amateur. Horsfield
came in playing well after recently blitzing the field to
win the Western Amateur.
U.S. Amateur play will continue on Thursday with
the Round of 32 in the morning and the Round of 16
in
the afternoon.
Davis Riley, who held a 4-up lead through nine holes,
endured a post-rain delay rally by Mathew Wolff, of
Agoura Hills, Calif. Over a six-hole stretch, Wolff
erased
the deficit, and forced a sudden-death playoff, the only
one of the day. Riley won the match with a par on the
first extra hole.
“I've played a lot of match play and anything can
happen,” said Riley, a University of Alabama
sophomore who shot 63 on the North course Tuesday
in stroke play to tie the course record. “You never
have
a match won, no matter how many up you are. So, I
just told myself to stick to my routine.”
ADDITIONAL TOP 10 SEEDS RESULTS
-No. 2 Dawson Armstrong defeated No. 63
Bradley
Moore (1 up)
-No. 61 Sahith Theegala defeated No. 4 Justin Suh (1
up)
-No. 59 Blair Hamilton defeated No. 6 John Oda (4&2)
-No. 7 Wyndham Clark defeated No. 58 William
Gordon
(3&2)
-No. 10 Luis Gagne defeated No. 55 Paul Pastore
(5&3)
To view the full bracket click on the results link
below.
-The USGA contributed to this story