Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By ERIC SODERSTROM
Managing Editor/Golfweek.com

SAN FRANCISCO – Monday, Tuesday and Jason Kokrak have all been long so far at the U.S. Amateur. That shouldn’t be a surprise.

The fog that delayed Monday’s start four hours is a regular visitor to the Olympic Club. Kokrak left the course Monday night a little after 8 o’clock, still with seven holes remaining in his opening round. He returned about 6 o’clock Tuesday morning to warm-up for a 25-hole day.

His driver was probably the hottest club in his bag, but only because the headcover rarely came off.


Kokrak finished up his first round on the Lakeside Course Tuesday with a 1-under 69, following later with a bogey-free 2-under 68 on the Ocean Course for a 3-under 137 total clouded with 3-irons. Alex Prugh and David Merkow finished a shot behind Kokrak.

“A lot of college players are getting longer and longer,” said Kokrak, 22, a recent graduate of Xavier, who finished the year at No. 57 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. “But I’m probably one of the longest players in the tournament now, and I’m basically hitting 3-iron every hole.”

Just over a month ago, Kokrak finished the Nationwide Tour’s Legend Financial Group Classic second in driving distance despite hitting 3-woods on the holes measured. He shot a second-round 66 that week and finished tied for 44th.

Kokrak said he hit only 10 drivers the last two days, and just one on the back nine of the Ocean Course. That drive came on the par-4, 472-yard 15th, where he made one of his 16 pars that round.

“I hit 3-iron about 250-260 off the tee,” Kokrak said. “It works out to my advantage if I’m hitting the ball straight.”

He has done that a lot lately.

Kokrak, who finished fourth at the NCAA Division I Central Regional but failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as an individual, is coming off his second consecutive Ohio State Amateur victory as well as a tie for third at the Porter Cup. He also played in this year’s U.S. Open, which he said is probably the reason he came to the Olympic Club so prepared.

“Getting that confidence, playing in front of all those people...” said Kokrak, of Warren, Ohio, who failed to get into last year’s U.S. Open as first alternate.

“I never came in (to a U.S. Amateur) with the confidence that I have now.”

Kokrak was probably one bad hole from making the cut at Oakmont, where he drove the 358-yard 14th, and has now made match play for the first time at the U.S. Amateur. He missed the cut last year by two shots.

“I’m looking forward to match play,” said Kokrak, who practiced alone on the putting green late Tuesday afternoon, knowing Wednesday would be another long day.

At that point, he couldn’t be overlooked.

Short shots: Three players fighting for the final two spots on the Walker Cup team fared well in stroke play: Prugh, Kyle Stanley (T-5) and Drew Weaver (T-9)...Two-time British Amateur champ Gary Wolstenholme, who turned 47 on Tuesday, qualified for match play....Cory Whitsett, the U.S. Junior Amateur champ, shot an even-par 70 on the more difficult Lakeside course, but shot 79 on the Ocean course to miss the cut.

• • •

Eric Soderstrom is the managing editor of Golfweek.com. To reach him email esoderstrom@golfweek.com.

---

Scores with relation to par from the second round of the U.S. Amateur, played Aug. 21 at the par-70, 6,948-yard Lakeside Course (L) and par-70, 6,786-yard Ocean Course (o) at the Olympic Club in San Francisco (Note: x-advanced to match play in playoff):

1. Jason Kokrak	69L-68o--137		-3
2. Alex Prugh	72L-66o--138		-2
2. David Merkow	69L-69o--138		-2
4. Trevor Murphy	71o-68L--139		-1
5. Kyle Stanley	69o-71L--140		E
5. Josh Dupont	70o-70L--140		E
5. Danny Lee	69o-71L--140		E
5. Daniel Kefale	70o-70L--140		E
9. Drew Weaver	72o-69L--141	+	1
9. Ji Moon	73L-68o--141	+	1
9. Derek Sipe	70L-71o--141	+	1
9. Kevin Schultz	69L-72o--141	+	1
9. Gene Elliott	73L-68o--141	+	1
14. George Zahringer	71o-71L--142	+	2
14. Joseph Bramlett	70o-72L--142	+	2
14. Kyle Dickey	68o-74L--142	+	2
14. Derek Fathauer	69o-73L--142	+	2
14. Nathan Tyler	68o-74L--142	+	2
14. Ricky Jones	70L-72o--142	+	2
14. Harris English	72L-70o--142	+	2
21. Cheng Tsung Pan	73o-70L--143	+	3
21. Kyle Ellis	68o-75L--143	+	3
21. Chase Cooper	70o-73L--143	+	3
21. David Mcdaniel	71L-72o--143	+	3
25. Webb Simpson	73o-71L--144	+	4
25. Jonathan Hodge	70o-74L--144	+	4
25. Estanislao Goya	66o-78L--144	+	4
25. Derek Ernst	68o-76L--144	+	4
25. Marius Thorp	73o-71L--144	+	4
25. Jonathon Schram	73o-71L--144	+	4
25. Clifford Blanchard	70o-74L--144	+	4
25. Phil Hendrickson	72L-72o--144	+	4
25. Mark Harrell	74L-70o--144	+	4
25. Jhonattan Vegas	72L-72o--144	+	4
25. Colt Knost	69L-75o--144	+	4
25. Sihwan Kim	73L-71o--144	+	4
25. Craig Smith	73L-71o--144	+	4
25. Jamie Lovemark	73L-71o--144	+	4
39. Billy Horschel	76o-69L--145	+	5
39. Michael Thompson	75o-70L--145	+	5
39. Andrew Putnam	75o-70L--145	+	5
39. Jay Moseley	72o-73L--145	+	5
39. Bud Cauley	72o-73L--145	+	5
39. James Sacheck	75L-70o--145	+	5
39. Eddie Olson	71L-74o--145	+	5
39. Dustin Johnson	72L-73o--145	+	5
39. Chris Rockwell	77L-68o--145	+	5
39. Randy Haag	76L-69o--145	+	5
49. Chris Kirk	71o-75L--146	+	6
49. Matthew Marshall	73o-73L--146	+	6
49. Gary Wolstenholme	72o-74L--146	+	6
49. Andy Mickelson	68o-78L--146	+	6
49. Chris Kennedy	71o-75L--146	+	6
49. Nick Taylor	70L-76o--146	+	6
49. Eric Onesi	75L-71o--146	+	6
49. Jon Bettencourt	72L-74o--146	+	6
49. Bryce Ledford	75L-71o--146	+	6
49. Travis Howe	72L-74o--146	+	6
59. x-Brendan Gielow	74o-73L--147	+	7
59. x-Jon Curran	73o-74L--147	+	7
59. x-Cameron Tringale	71o-76L--147	+	7
59. x-A.J. Oleksak	71o-76L--147	+	7
59. x-Casey Clendenon	73o-74L--147	+	7
59. x-Josh Anderson	74L-73o--147	+	7
• • •
Missed the cut
59. Rickie Fowler	72o-75L--147	+	7
59. Lindsay Renolds	73o-74L--147	+	7
59. David Johnson	71o-76L--147	+	7
59. Alex Martin	74o-73L--147	+	7
59. Daryl Fathauer	76o-71L--147	+	7
59. Mark Silvers	72o-75L--147	+	7
59. Lion Kim	74o-73L--147	+	7
59. Raymon Floyd Jr.	75L-72o--147	+	7
59. Austin Eaton III	76L-71o--147	+	7
59. David Markle	77L-70o--147	+	7
59. Rick Kulacz	75L-72o--147	+	7
76. Brandon Huffman	75o-73L--148	+	8
76. Drew Stoltz	71o-77L--148	+	8
76. Manuel Villegas	74o-74L--148	+	8
76. Arnold Cutrell	73o-75L--148	+	8
76. Michael Knight	72o-76L--148	+	8
76. Scott Harvey	73o-75L--148	+	8
76. Nick Delio	75o-73L--148	+	8
76. Philip Pettitt Jr.	72o-76L--148	+	8
76. Michael Muehr	75L-73o--148	+	8
76. Trey Denton	76L-72o--148	+	8
76. Ricky Romano	79L-69o--148	+	8
76. Robert Rohanna	73L-75o--148	+	8
76. Cole Willcox	77L-71o--148	+	8
76. Baker Elmore	78L-70o--148	+	8
76. Kevin Marsh	75L-73o--148	+	8
76. Clayton Rotz	74L-74o--148	+	8
76. Robert Streb	79L-69o--148	+	8
93. John Bernatovicz	74o-75L--149	+	9
93. Greg Doherty	75o-74L--149	+	9
93. Farren Keenan	74o-75L--149	+	9
93. Jeffrey Castle	73o-76L--149	+	9
93. Hyun Seok Lim	72o-77L--149	+	9
93. Martin Ureta	74o-75L--149	+	9
93. Matthew Rippy	71L-78o--149	+	9
93. Justin Gray	78L-71o--149	+	9
93. Morgan Hoffmann	71L-78o--149	+	9
93. Jakin Fox	77L-72o--149	+	9
93. Vincent Johnson	75L-74o--149	+	9
93. Michael Drake	73L-76o--149	+	9
93. Brian Harman	77L-72o--149	+	9
93. Cory Whitsett	70L-79o--149	+	9
93. Glenn Northcutt	74L-75o--149	+	9
108. Blake Seabaugh	78o-72L--150	+	10
108. David Lipsky	77o-73L--150	+	10
108. Jeff Wilson	75o-75L--150	+	10
108. William Smith	76o-74L--150	+	10
108. Brent Paladino	76o-74L--150	+	10
108. Tim Schaetzel	78o-72L--150	+	10
108. Mu Hu	70o-80L--150	+	10
108. Nick Little	73o-77L--150	+	10
108. Robin Smith	74o-76L--150	+	10
108. Taylor Travis	70o-80L--150	+	10
108. Zack Reeves	73o-77L--150	+	10
108. Rick Reinsberg	71o-79L--150	+	10
108. Kevin Quinn	77o-73L--150	+	10
108. Michael Baird	70o-80L--150	+	10
108. Ramsey Sahyoun	76L-74o--150	+	10
108. Robbie Fillmore	74L-76o--150	+	10
108. Alan Hill	72L-78o--150	+	10
108. Nathan Smith	79L-71o--150	+	10
108. William Moore	76L-74o--150	+	10
108. A-Shun Wu	74L-76o--150	+	10
108. Adrien Bernadet	78L-72o--150	+	10
129. Ryan Spears	77o-74L--151	+	11
129. Matt Miller	75o-76L--151	+	11
129. Danny Green	69o-82L--151	+	11
129. Michael Quagliano	73o-78L--151	+	11
129. Jonathan Moore	73o-78L--151	+	11
129. Carl Smith IV	74o-77L--151	+	11
129. Sam Saunders	74L-77o--151	+	11
129. Connor Arendell	78L-73o--151	+	11
129. Richard Lee	81L-70o--151	+	11
129. Robert Gerwin	75L-76o--151	+	11
129. Scott McGihon	78L-73o--151	+	11
129. Tripp Kuhlke	79L-72o--151	+	11
129. Dave Womack	76L-75o--151	+	11
129. Beau Glover	76L-75o--151	+	11
129. Brent Long	71L-80o--151	+	11
144. John Kelly	80o-72L--152	+	12
144. Chris Condello	77o-75L--152	+	12
144. Blake Bowman	74o-78L--152	+	12
144. Jordan Smith	76o-76L--152	+	12
144. Jeff Burda	79L-73o--152	+	12
144. Ki Moon	78L-74o--152	+	12
144. Cody Paladino	76L-76o--152	+	12
144. Tyler Brewington	78L-74o--152	+	12
144. Niall Turner	78L-74o--152	+	12
144. Jim Dunlap	77L-75o--152	+	12
144. David McAndrew	78L-74o--152	+	12
144. Adam Hagen	72L-80o--152	+	12
144. Michael Tulacz	76L-76o--152	+	12
144. J.C. Horne	74L-78o--152	+	12
144. Tyler Hitchcock	76L-76o--152	+	12
144. John-Tyler Griffin	77L-75o--152	+	12
144. Matthew Hicks	79L-73o--152	+	12
161. Jake Scott	78o-75L--153	+	13
161. Trey Mcneill	72o-81L--153	+	13
161. Daniel Mitchell	80o-73L--153	+	13
161. Douglas Clapp	77o-76L--153	+	13
161. Jonathon Krick	75o-78L--153	+	13
161. Jimmy Lytle	75o-78L--153	+	13
161. J.P. Van der Walt	76o-77L--153	+	13
161. Blake Trimble	74o-79L--153	+	13
161. Bill Rankin	75o-78L--153	+	13
161. Jeff Belk	74o-79L--153	+	13
161. Blake West	76L-77o--153	+	13
161. Troy Merritt	75L-78o--153	+	13
161. Amory Davis	78L-75o--153	+	13
161. Michael Beausejour	76L-77o--153	+	13
161. Danny Sorgini	77L-76o--153	+	13
161. Zach Sebert	79L-74o--153	+	13
161. Will Griffin	75L-78o--153	+	13
161. Scott Travers	77L-76o--153	+	13
161. Martin Trainer	79L-74o--153	+	13
161. Hunter Semels	81L-72o--153	+	13
161. Scotty Jones	76L-77o--153	+	13
161. Clay Poff	80L-73o--153	+	13
161. Alexandre Kaleka	81L-72o--153	+	13
161. Jamie Arnold	77L-76o--153	+	13
161. Michael O'Neal	77L-76o--153	+	13
161. Brian Locke	74L-79o--153	+	13
187. Scott Sikes	77o-77L--154	+	14
187. Dean Merrill	74o-80L--154	+	14
187. Taylor Hall	78o-76L--154	+	14
187. Erik Flores	79o-75L--154	+	14
187. Packard Dewitt	79o-75L--154	+	14
187. Steve White	74o-80L--154	+	14
187. Carlton Forrester	77o-77L--154	+	14
187. Scott Kelly	74o-80L--154	+	14
187. Daniel Lim	73o-81L--154	+	14
187. Tanner Ervin	78L-76o--154	+	14
187. Tyson Alexander	77L-77o--154	+	14
187. Eric Shriver	80L-74o--154	+	14
187. Matt Hughes	83L-71o--154	+	14
187. Fu Chiang Pan	77L-77o--154	+	14
187. William Mcguinness	79L-75o--154	+	14
187. Philip Arouca	77L-77o--154	+	14
187. Aaron Weston	74L-80o--154	+	14
187. Jason Gerken	77L-77o--154	+	14
187. Aaron Hickman	84L-70o--154	+	14
206. Joe Schoolmeesters	79o-76L--155	+	15
206. Jon McLean	73o-82L--155	+	15
206. Cameron Hooper	79o-76L--155	+	15
206. Preston Yates	74o-81L--155	+	15
206. John Hurley	75o-80L--155	+	15
206. Andres Echavarria	75o-80L--155	+	15
206. Wes Homan	83L-72o--155	+	15
206. Stuart Gold	78L-77o--155	+	15
206. Erik Barnes	79L-76o--155	+	15
206. Michael McGowan	79L-76o--155	+	15
206. Eric Spencer	78L-77o--155	+	15
206. John Pierce	77L-78o--155	+	15
218. Michael Bell	76o-80L--156	+	16
218. Zachary Zaremba	74o-82L--156	+	16
218. Timothy Beranek	73o-83L--156	+	16
218. Kyle English	76o-80L--156	+	16
218. Clayton Parkhill	75o-81L--156	+	16
218. Alex Wagner	73o-83L--156	+	16
218. Casey Watabu	79o-77L--156	+	16
218. Doug Kleeschulte	73o-83L--156	+	16
218. Bill Drohen	77o-79L--156	+	16
218. Matthew Sughrue	76o-80L--156	+	16
218. Tony Behrstock	76o-80L--156	+	16
218. Derek Rende	77o-79L--156	+	16
218. Cory Blenkush	79o-77L--156	+	16
218. Warren Thomas	78L-78o--156	+	16
218. J.J. Wood	83L-73o--156	+	16
218. Henry Zaytoun III	79L-77o--156	+	16
218. Andrew Bowdish	80L-76o--156	+	16
218. Ricky McDonald	80L-76o--156	+	16
218. Eric Williams	85L-71o--156	+	16
218. Matthew Pierce Jr.	80L-76o--156	+	16
218. Justin Fraley	76L-80o--156	+	16
218. Jeff Golden	77L-79o--156	+	16
240. Kent Bulle	81o-76L--157	+	17
240. Brad Wilder	73o-84L--157	+	17
240. Michael Smith	80o-77L--157	+	17
240. Mark Telerico	78o-79L--157	+	17
240. Spencer Fletcher	80L-77o--157	+	17
240. George Cestia	80L-77o--157	+	17
240. Trip Kuehne	74L-83o--157	+	17
240. Cliff Benson III	80L-77o--157	+	17
248. Mark Sommerfeld	77o-81L--158	+	18
248. Darren Wallace	74o-84L--158	+	18
248. Ryan Anderson	79o-79L--158	+	18
248. Jamie Miller	81o-77L--158	+	18
248. William Cullen	78o-80L--158	+	18
248. Jarred Texter	78L-80o--158	+	18
248. Victor Ciesielski	82L-76o--158	+	18
248. Tyler Neal	80L-78o--158	+	18
256. Jeff New	79o-80L--159	+	19
256. Travis Reid	81o-78L--159	+	19
256. Estanislao Guerrero	79o-80L--159	+	19
256. Daniel Abbondandolo	81o-78L--159	+	19
256. Dominic Bozzelli	76o-83L--159	+	19
256. Jon Platz	76o-83L--159	+	19
256. Justin Bryant	86L-73o--159	+	19
256. Brian Scherer	82L-77o--159	+	19
256. Anthony Paolucci	80L-79o--159	+	19
256. Nick Desimone	82L-77o--159	+	19
266. Zack Sucher	81o-79L--160	+	20
266. Clark Holle	78o-82L--160	+	20
266. Evan Harmeling	76o-84L--160	+	20
266. Billy McKay	81L-79o--160	+	20
266. Ryan O'Rear	78L-82o--160	+	20
266. Freddy Esparza	82L-78o--160	+	20
272. Robby Bigley	75o-86L--161	+	21
272. Reed Davis	81o-80L--161	+	21
272. Mark Modglin	80o-81L--161	+	21
272. David Keepler	78o-83L--161	+	21
272. Lance Lopez	79o-82L--161	+	21
272. Christian Blanchet	84L-77o--161	+	21
272. Sean Rowen	83L-78o--161	+	21
272. James Byrd	81L-80o--161	+	21
272. Patrick Reed	78L-83o--161	+	21
272. Chappell Brown	82L-79o--161	+	21
272. Marshall Bailey	85L-76o--161	+	21
283. Cody Upham	77o-85L--162	+	22
283. Jonathan Orchin	81o-81L--162	+	22
283. Kelly Kraft	84o-78L--162	+	22
283. Raymond Sheedy	82o-80L--162	+	22
283. Chase Wright	86L-76o--162	+	22
283. Federico Damus	87L-75o--162	+	22
283. James Godwin	86L-76o--162	+	22
290. Matt Robertson	77o-86L--163	+	23
290. Matt Hammond	86o-77L--163	+	23
290. Ben Wood	79L-84o--163	+	23
290. Patrick Datz	79L-84o--163	+	23
294. Philippe-Andre Bannon	77o-87L--164	+	24
294. Chad Frank	83L-81o--164	+	24
296. Mike Moffat	82o-83L--165	+	25
296. Michael Buttacavoli	82o-83L--165	+	25
296. Min Wook Woo	81o-84L--165	+	25
296. Brad Wright	79o-86L--165	+	25
296. E.J. Wholey	81o-84L--165	+	25
296. Phillip Mollica	84L-81o--165	+	25
296. Patrick Mainey	80L-85o--165	+	25
303. Sandro Piaget	80o-87L--167	+	27
304. Dusty Roberts	83L-85o--168	+	28
305. Tommy McDonagh	88L-81o--169	+	29
306. John Talley	80o-91L--171	+	31
306. Troy Anderson	89L-82o--171	+	31
306. Nate Dunn	88L-83o--171	+	31
309. Ryan Hitt	92L-81o--173	+	33
309. David Easley	90L-83o--173	+	33
311. Brant Peaper	89o-87L--176	+	36
312. Tyson Ketchum	94o-90L--184	+	44

Posted: 8/21/2007

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