U.S. Amateur Semi-Finals

Here were the matchups yesterday in the semi-finals of the U.S. Amateur golf championship, being played at Cherry Hill Country Club near Denver:

1. Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., who played for Louisville St. X and now plays for the University of Alabama, took on Michael Weaver of Fresno, Calif. Weaver is a Cal Bear.

2. Steven Fox of Hendersonville, Tenn., who plays for UT-Chattanooga, took on Brandon Hagy of Westlake Village, Calif., another Cal Bear.

Here's how Michael Weaver started his match with Justin Thomas: birdie, birdie, birdie. That put him two up after only three holes. Thomas actually birdied the third hole himself, but then he bogeyed the fourth hole to fall three down. Weaver added birdies at the 8th and 10th, and that put him five up with eight to play. Thomas made a slight comeback after that, but Weaver's blistering start was just too much to overcome. The Californian advanced to the final with a 3 & 2 victory. I think Thomas played pretty well, but it would have been almost impossible to beat Weaver yesterday.

Fox and Hagy had an extremely close match, with neither man being able to build more than a one-hole lead. After fourteen holes, they were all square. Then Hagy bogeyed the 15th hole to fall one down. The next two holes were halved in pars -- but then Fox birdied the 18th to win the match 2 up.