Only 16 golfers are left in the battle for the U.S. Amateur. Here's what's happening with the three who are of interest to us.
1. Justin Thomas of Goshen and the University of Alabama is playing his teammate, Bobby Wyatt. Wyatt, who is from Mobile -- and who once shot a 57 at the Alabama Boys' State Golf Championship -- also plays for the Crimson Tide. Through seven holes, Wyatt is one up.
2. Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho and the University of Washington is playing Edouard Espana of France. Williams is one up after the first hole.
3. Patrick Newcomb of Benton -- who played for Marshall County and who now plays for Murray State -- will play Brandon Hagy of Westlake Village, California. As you can see here, Westlake Village is quite different from Benton. Hagy plays for the University of California. That match is scheduled to tee off at 2:50 Mountain Daylight Time -- and you should be able to see it later this afternoon on the Golf Channel.
Oh, come on.
ReplyDeleteI just said they're different. Personally, I would prefer Benton.
DeleteOh, I know.
DeleteGO, P-NUKE!
ReplyDeleteJustin Thomas and Bobby Wyatt are having a great match. Wyatt took the lead after Thomas bogeyed the first hole, but then Thomas birdied the third hole to even things up. Wyatt then eagled the fifth hole to take the lead, and went two up after Thomas bogeyed the sixth hole. But then Thomas won the seventh hole with a par, the eighth hole with a birdie, and the 10th hole with a par. So Thomas is now 1-up with 8 holes to play.
ReplyDeleteChris Williams and Edouard Espana are all square after four holes.
ReplyDeletePatrick Newcombe (I hope he had time for lunch) lost the first hole with a bogey. He is one down after two holes.
Back in June, Alabama played Texas for the NCAA championship of golf. The two teams played a best-of-five matches to determine the title. Wyatt was one down with two holes to play, but he won the last two holes with an eagle and a birdie to win his match. Thomas had to play Texas's best player, Jordan Speith, and he lost 3 and 2.
ReplyDeleteTexas won the national title, three matches to two.
Speith was eliminated yesterday in the Round of 64 by Thomas Pieters of Belgium, who beat him 1 up. But the two Alabama teammates are still going.
Justin Thomas was all square with Bobby Wyatt coming to the 17th hole, a 545-yard par 5. He won that hole with a birdie -- and when both players parred the last hole, Thomas had advanced to the quarter-finals. Another great victory for Thomas.
ReplyDeleteChris Williams is three up on Edouardo Espana with three holes to play.
ReplyDeletePatrick Newcomb is two down to Brandon Hagy with six holes to play.
So far, Thomas is the only American to reach the quarter-finals. Oliver Goss of Australia (who plays for the University of Tennessee) and Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal (who plays for Central Florida) are the other two golfers who have qualified for the quarter-finals.
ReplyDeleteWe have another American in the quarter-finals. Chris Williams has beaten Edouardo Espana 3 and 2.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the last U.S. Amateur champion to go on and win a major as a pro was Tiger Woods.
ReplyDeleteThe Golf Channel just told us that Chris Williams is the number-one ranked amateur in the world.
ReplyDeleteThe last British Amateur champion to win a major as a pro was Jose-Maria Olazabal, who won the British Amateur in 1984.
ReplyDeletePatrick Newcombe just won the 13th hole with a par. He has trailed ever since the first hole, but he is now down only one with five to play.
ReplyDeleteI meant "Newcomb," not "Newcombe."
DeleteMichael Weaver (of Fresno, CA) was two down with two to play against Albin Choi of Canada. But Weaver won the 17th and 18th to force extra holes, and he just won the 19th hole to win the match.
ReplyDeleteHere are the quarter-finalists so far:
ReplyDeleteJustin Thomas, Goshen, Ky. (U of Ala.)
Oliver Goss, Australia (U of Tenn.)
Ricardo Gouveia, Portugal (U of Cent. Fla.)
Michael Weaver, Fresno, Calif. (U of Calif.)
Steven Fox, Hendersonville, Tenn. (UT-Chatt.)
Chris Williams, Moscow, Idaho (U of Wash.)
Patrick Newcomb loses the 15th hole because of a bogey, He is now two down with three holes left.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that Patrick Newcomb appeared on the Golf Channel, that he was wearing a Murray State hat, and that the announcers had very nice things to say about the Kentucky Amateur championship.
ReplyDeleteThe bad news is that Newcomb was only on TV for a very short period of time. He bogeyed the 16th hole, while Brandon Hagy birdied it. So Hagy closed out Newcomb, beating him 3 and 2.
There is still one more match on the course, but our coverage is done. Congratulations to Patrick Newcomb, who went to the Sweet 16 of the U.S. Amateur Championship! Good for him.
ReplyDelete