Sugrue bows out; Boys and Girls advance
James Sugrue hits his tee shot on the second hole during round of 64 at the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (Course No. 2) in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019. (Copyright USGA/Chris Keane)
Mallow's James Sugrue can turn his thoughts to the Walker Cup now after bowing out in the first round of the US Amateur Championship at Pinehurst No 2.
The Amateur champion completed the last two holes of his weather-delayed second round by finishing birdie-par for a 73 to make the top 64 qualifiers on three-over 143
But while he avoided a marathon, 27-man playoff for the last three spots by two shots, he fell 5&4 to England's Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of 2013 US Amateur champion Matthew.
Sugrue did not produce his best golf on what he described as “a very, very tough track” and was approximately seven over for the holes played when they shook hands with Fitzpatrick, who putted well and gave little away, on the 14th green.
The USGA writes:
Kentucky’s Austin Squires (22) , who was the last man to make the match-play field in a 27-for-3 playoff on Wednesday morning, eliminated medalist and No. 1 seed Brandon Wu, 22, of Scarsdale, N.Y., on Wednesday evening, 2 up, in the Round of 64 of the 119th U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club.
“Man, it was stressful,” said Squires, a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati who is playing in his third U.S. Amateur. “I was one putt away from not even being in match play this morning, and then I got through and had to start all over again against Brandon Wu.”
Squires, who is No. 146 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), parred the fourth playoff hole on Pinehurst No. 4 to earn the third spot among 27 players who completed 36 holes at 5-over-par 145. About two hours later, he squared off against Wu, the medalist at 3-under 137 and the No. 11 player in the WAGR.
No. 2 seed Ricky Castillo, 18, of Yorba Linda, Calif., rolled to a 5-and-3 win over Chad Sewell, of Conroe, Texas. Castillo, who was a stroke-play co-medalist last month in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Inverness, won six out of seven holes on the back nine and closed out Sewell with a birdie on the 193-yard, par-3 15th hole.
Twin brothers Parker and Pierceson Coody, 19, of Plano, Texas, qualified with the same 3-over-par score of 143, then posted convincing victories on Wednesday. No. 28 seed Parker ousted Noah Norton, of Chino, Calif., 7 and 6, while No. 30 seed Pierceson posted a 6-and-5 win over Sahith Theegala, of Chino Hills, Calif. The brothers, who are the grandsons of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody, are sophomores at the University of Texas, where they helped the Longhorns to an NCAA team runner-up finish.
Julien Sale of France, No. 270 in the WAGR, rallied from 2 down with two holes to play, forcing extra holes with a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 18. He then eliminated Austin Eckroat in 19 holes when Eckroat, a junior at Oklahoma State who is No. 24 in the WAGR, missed a short par putt to extend the match.
No. 52 seed Maxwell Moldovan, of Uniontown, Ohio, ousted Stewart Hagestad, of Newport Beach, Calif., who is No. 7 in the WAGR, 3 and 2. Moldovan, 17, a two-time Ohio high school champion, took the lead with a birdie on the third hole and was never tied.
Shiryu (Leo) Oyo, of Japan, rallied from 3 down through 12 holes, winning five consecutive holes over Puwit Anupansuebsai of Thailand for a 2-and-1 victory.
What’s Next
The Round of 32 and the Round of 16 are scheduled for Thursday, starting at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. EDT, respectively. The quarterfinal round will be played on Friday afternoon starting at 2:30. The championship will be on FS1 from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT both Thursday and Friday, with live streaming on usamateur.com from noon to 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday.
Four of the 32 Round-of-64 matches pitted players from Texas against ones from California, and the Lone Star State and the Golden State split the matches. Isaiah Salinda and Ricky Castillo won for California, while the Coody brothers bested their opponents.
Three of the five North Carolina players who reached match play advanced to the Round of 32. Akshay Bhatia, of Wake Forest, who is No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, earned a 5-and-3 win over RJ Manke, of Lakewood, Wash. Parker Gillam of Cary and Blake Wagoner of Cornelius also moved on, while Tar Heel State residents Ryan Girard of Raleigh and Henry Shimp of Charlotte were eliminated.
Cohen Trolio, 16, of West Point, Miss., is the youngest player left in the Round of 32. Trolio, the No. 57 seed, defeated No. 8 Trevor Werbylo, 2 up. He is the son of V.J. Trolio, the teaching professional at Old Waverly Golf Club, which hosted the U.S. Women’s Amateur last week, won by Gabriela Ruffels of Australia.
Cole Hammer, the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and a semifinalist in this championship last year at Pebble Beach, was eliminated in the 27-for-3 playoff on Wednesday morning. Hammer, who shot 75-70 in the stroke play portion of the championship, missed a 3-footer to make bogey on the first playoff hole. He was already named to the USA Walker Cup Team by virtue of his No. 1 position in the WAGR.
Four players in the Round of 32 also were in the Round of 32 last year at Pebble Beach: John Augenstein, Alex Fitzpatrick, Isaiah Salinda and Austin Squires. Of the 32 players left, three are current players at Arizona State: Alejandro Del Ray, Blake Wagoner and Julien Sale. There are two players from the University of Texas, twins Parker and Pierceson Coody; and there are two from Wake Forest: Alex Fitzpatrick and Parker Gillam.
Max Kennedy (Royal Dublin). Photo: Ronan Quinlan
Eight Boys and three Girls makes matchplay in R&A Championships
There was better news for Irish amateur golf in the R&A's Boys Amateur at Saunton where eight of the 16 Irish entrants made the matchplay stages on 146 or better.
Scotland's Connor McKinney shot a level par 71 on the West Course to lead the qualifiers by one shot on five-under 137 from Frenchman Martin Couvra and Welshman Archie Davies.
Royal Dublin's Max Kennedy was the top Irish qualifier in 20th one-over 143 after a 74 with Lisburn's Aaron Marshall and Fontona's Ruan McNelis on 145.
Dundalk's Josh Mackin, Baltinglass' Joseph Byrne, Roganstown's Joshua McCabe, Mullingar's Adam Smith and Black Bush's Sean Doyle made it on the 146 cut mark by Seapoint's Dylan Keating missed out by one shot.
In the Girls' Amateur Championship at Panmure, Elm Park's Anna Foster and Lahinch's Aine Donegan shot 71s to qualify for the matchplay with ease on four-over 146.
Kirkistown Castle's Beth Coulter made the top 64 in 63rd place on the nine-over cut mark but Douglas' Sara Byrne missed out on 154.
World number six Alessia Nobilio of Italy did not drop a shot in rounds of 66 and 65 as she topped the qualifiers on 11-under, 131.
R&A
Girls' Amateur Championship, Panmure (Par 71)
Leading qualifiers: 1, A Nobilio (Ita) 66 65 131; 2, L Malchirand (Fra) 64 68 132; 3, A Fuller (Eng) 70 66 136.
Irish qualifiers: 24, A Foster (Elm Park) 75 71 146; 25, A Donegan (Lahinch) 75 71 146; 63, B Coulter (Kirkistown Castle) 75 76 151. Non-qualifier: 90, S Byrne (Douglas) 78 76 154.
Boys’ Amateur Championship, Saunton (Par 71)
Leading qualifiers: 1, C McKinney (Sco) 66 71 137; T2, M Couvra (Fra) 69 69 138, A Davies (Sco) 71 67 138.
Irish qualifiers: T20 M Kennedy, (Royal Dublin) 69 74 143; T42 A Marshall (Lisburn) 70 75 145; T42 R McNelis (Fintona) 74 71 145; T60, J Mackin (Dundalk) 72 74 146, J Byrne (Baltinglass) 70 76 146, J McCabe (Roganstown) 75 71 146, A Smith (Mullingar) 72 74 146, S Doyle (Black Bush) 71 75 146.
Non-qualifiers: D Keating (Seapoint) 70 77 147; E Sullivan (Carton House) 74 73 147; L O'Neill (Connemara) 73 75 148; R Galligan (Elm Park) 74 76 150; S Murphy (Portumna) 72 80 152; S Walker (Roscommon) 76 76 152; S Downes (Royal Dublin) 82 79 161; K Morrison (Holywood) 75 87 162.
