When Chase Kyes qualified for this year’s U.S. Junior Amateur earlier this summer in Birmingham, Ala., he never could have pictured his first two days of championship play. From the moment he teed off on Oakland Hills Country Club’s North Course on Monday morning to the time he putted out on the South Course on Tuesday evening, every one of his shots were under the watchful eyes of anywhere between 400 and 800 attentive spectators, following his every move.

Kyes knew they weren’t there for him (the 18-year-old was paired with Charlie Woods, son of nine-time USGA champion Tiger Woods, who was in attendance), but he certainly embraced the moment.

“I’ve never played in front of a crowd like that before,” said Kyes. “But it was a great experience. Good for my future.”

After admitting to being nervous for his first two holes on Monday (he opened with a bogey), Kyes would play the rest of his first round in 1-under par. Settling in to the lively scene on Tuesday, Kyes took on the harder South Course, nicknamed The Monster by 1951 U.S. Open Champion Ben Hogan, and tamed it, firing a 4-under par 66 to catapult up the leader board and into a better seed (No. 6) for match play, which begins Wednesday.

“Me and Jeff are fantastic,” said Kyes, who has Jeff Curl, who caddied for Nick Dunlap’s U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur wins, on the bag. “He plays out of Greystone [Golf & Country Club]. We have a great group of guys out at Greystone, and we play every day. He gives me great numbers and great reads. He keeps my head in it which is pretty much the biggest part.”

Edging out Kyes by two shots was Blades Brown, 17, of Nashville, Tenn., who himself is one of the more well-known names in the field after making the cut earlier this year in a PGA Tour event. He earned medalist honors, and in doing so, joins only Tiger Woods and Bobby Clampett in having secured that achievement at both the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur. Brown earned his U.S. Amateur medalist position last summer at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colo.

Brown, who navigated the North Course with ease on Monday for a 66, grinded out a 2-under 68 on the South Course on Tuesday, carding an eagle, four birdies (including finishing with a 15-foot putt on his last hole of the day), to go along with four bogeys.

“It’s definitely a little more challenging than the North,” said Brown of the South Course. “It was a lot of fun out there to battle today. I like courses that test my game.”

Tyler Watts, who co-led after Round 1, shot an even par 70 on the South Course Tuesday. He earned the No. 2 seed.

Chase Cline, 18, of Chapin, S.C., is making the most of his USGA championship debut. Earning an exemption into the field by way of his win at the South Carolina State Junior Championship, Cline shot rounds of 71-67 to safely make the cut. The two-sport athlete, who was a place kicker and punter at Chapin High School, will attend Western Carolina University in the fall.

“You have to be mentally strong,” said Cline of playing the South Course, where he collected six birdies on Tuesday. “It can get out of hand pretty quickly, but you just can’t compound your mistakes. You have to keep it one shot at a time. My approach shots were strong today; I put myself in some good spots. And had a couple nice putts drop.”

Also comfortably past the cut is Sean Keeling, of the Republic of Ireland, who looks to keep an impressive year going after winning the Irish Boys’ Amateur Open Championship in April. The 2023 European Junior Ryder Cup team member is playing in his second U.S. Junior Amateur after reaching the Round of 64 a year ago.

“In match play, you can sometimes get caught up in trying to play the man,” said Keeling, who will head to Texas Tech in the fall. “I’m just going to try and focus on my game, play the golf course, and try to go deep.”

What’s Next

The 64 players who survived the cut and qualified for match play will play a single match on Wednesday, after the conclusion of a 13-for-9 playoff at 7 a.m. EDT The Round of 64 will commence at 8 a.m. Match play continues Thursday and Friday with the 36-hole championship match scheduled for Saturday. Peacock will stream the semifinals and afternoon portion of the championship match with Golf Channel re-airing the broadcast on tape delay. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend. Fan information can be found at usga.org.

Notable

- A 13-for-9 playoff to determine the final spots in the 64-player match play bracket will begin Wednesday morning on the North Course. The Round of 64 will begin on the South Course at 8 a.m. EDT.
- Joshua Bai, last year’s runner-up, fired a bogey-free 65 on the North Course on Tuesday. He’ll be the No. 3 seed in match play. Last year at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C., Bai was the No. 6 seed.
- Edan Cui, who shot rounds of 68 and 72, will make match play. His sister, Victoria, advanced to the Round of 32 last week at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in California.
- For the second consecutive day, afternoon play was suspended due to dangerous weather. The course received approximately .29 inches of rain during a 1:45 delay.
- Chase Kyes’ dad Ryan was in attendance to watch his son. Ryan was Michigan’s Mr. Baseball winner in 1997. He played for Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Mich., two miles from Oakland Hills, and had a .551 career batting average.
- Five of the seven members of the USGA’s inaugural U.S. National Junior Team in the field advanced to match play. Besides Blades Brown and Tyler Watts, Henry Guan, Michael Riebe and Miles Russell also made it through.

Quotable

“I walked the course on Friday, and just looking at the holes I thought I was going to shoot like 95. It looked pretty tough. Thankfully I played it and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, but the rough is so thick, you have to keep it out of there. But it suits my game well off the tee.” - Chase Cline on the South Course

“The most important thing here is hitting fairways and then hitting the right spots on the greens and plotting your way around [the course] instead of going at everything. You need to be smart and disciplined.” - Nicholas Gross on his approach going into match play

“I learned to embrace the pressure and enjoy having people watch you. I enjoy being under the gun and I’m just going to have fun the next few days.” - Sean Keening on his previous match play experience

“It gives me so much momentum and fuel and confidence. But in match play anything can happen. I'm looking forward to it.” - Blades Brown on playing well in stroke play

“I was pumped up to start the day. A great day yesterday, but you need to have short-term memory and I came out a little nervous. I made six birdies and shot even, so it was a grind of a day.” - Mack Edwards on his second round

“Sure, I don’t have the resume of Blades Brown or Tyler Watts, but hopefully this is the start of something good. I’ve played some solid golf in recent months and it’s feeling good now.” - Mack Edwards on what he’s proving to himself

“It was definitely a grind. Had to get up and down more often than I would have liked to and make a lot of pars. I did that. Unfortunately, I didn’t get medalist but it doesn’t matter at the end of the day, I guess.” - Tyler Watts on his Tuesday round

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