Doug Ghim (R) beat Sahith Theegala (L) in a match full of lead changes
(USGA photo)
PACIFIC PALISADES, CA (August 17, 2017) - The match play round of 32 has been completed at the 117th U.S. Amateur Championship at Riviera Country Club.
The big names are starting to knock each other out as the quality of play rises and the margin of error shrinks. Only 16 players remain in the quest for the Havemeyer Trophy.
Highlights of the Round of 32
Medalist Hayden Wood of Edmond, OK was knocked out by his Oklahoma State University teammate
Kristoffer Ventura of Norway. Ventura will move on to face Connor Syme of Scotland, who was the only amateur to advance to the British Open through Final Qualifying.
Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, IL and the University of Texas beat Sahith Theegala of Chino Hills, CA and Pepperdine University after 19 holes of a thrilling matchup of players who have won major amateur titles this summer. Ghim won the Pacific Coast Amateur and Theegala won the Sahalee Players Championship.
In another battle of highly-ranked players,
Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge and Cal-Berkeley edged Australian Dylan Perry, this year's British Amateur runner-up, at the 18th hole.
Two other Australians are still alive in the final 16.
Shae Wools-Cobb took a 1 up win over LSU commit Garrett Barber of Stuart, FL, and
Travis Smyth beat World #2 Braden Thornberry of Olive Branch, MS and Ole Miss, 3&2. Thornberry had advanced from the 13-for-8 playoff Wednesday morning and took out Joaquin Niemann of Chile in the Round of 64, but Smyth took control of the match with four wins in five holes starting at the ninth.
Smyth will face
Will Zalatorisof Plano, TX and Wake Forest University, who like yesterday hit it all over Riviera and scrambled his way to a 3&2 win over Canadian Hugo Bernard.
Western Amateur runner-up
Doc Redman of Raleigh, NC and Clemson University won a hard-fought match with U.S. Open qualifier Walker Lee of Houston to advance to the final 16.
The Round of 16 started immediately after the Round of 32 was complete. Below are the remaining 16 players in the championship and the matchups for the Round of 16.
Round of 16 Matches
Kristoffer Ventura (Norway) v.
Connor Syme (Scotland)
Joey Vrzich (El Cajon, CA) v.
Doug Ghim (Arlington Heights, IL)
Theo Humphrey (Greenwich, CT) v.
Noah Norton (Chino, CA)
Chun An Yu (Chinese Taipei) v.
Collin Morikawa (La Canada Flintridge, CA)
Cheng Jin (China) v.
Dawson Armstrong (Brentwood, TN)
Mark Lawrence, Jr. (Richmond, VA) v.
Shae Wools-Cobb (Australia)
Doc Redman (Raleigh, NC) v.
John Oda (Honolulu, HI)
Travis Smyth (Australia) v.
Will Zalatoris (Plano, TX)
ABOUT THE
US 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 .4 (point four) or lower. It is
one
of 15 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA.
A new two-stage qualifying process went into effect in 2024, providing exemptions through local qualifying for state amateur champions and top-ranked WAGR playres. See the USGA website for details -- applications are typically placed online in the spring
at www.usga.org.
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