By DAN MIROCHA
Assistant EditorAUGUSTA, Mo. – After Peter Uihlein knocked in a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a 1-up victory in his second-round match over Hunter Hamrick, he took off his hat, shook his head and breathed deeply.
“I dodged a huge bullet,” he said. “I was just trying to get to extra holes.”
Uihlein,
Golfweek’s top-ranked junior, had trailed the entire match until his final putt at 18. He looked to be out of the match when Hamrick rolled in a 30-footer for birdie from off the 14th green to go 2 up. With Hamrick in the fairway at 15, Uihlein pulled his drive left in thick rough, but hit a lob wedge 3 feet from a pin tucked behind two deep bunkers. He won the hole after Hamrick three-putted.
The pair halved 16, and when Hamrick couldn’t get up-and-down from behind the 17th green, the match was all square going into 18.
Hamrick found a bunker off the 18th tee and played to the front of the green. But he faced a putt of some 50 yards on the 26,000-square-foot green to a pin tucked in the back right. Hamrick’s attempt rolled 20 feet by and he missed the comebacker.
Uihlein drained his 3-footer for par to complete the comeback victory.
“I proud of the way I played,” Hamrick said. “He’s the best player in the country. I went toe-to-toe with him all day. He’s probably going to beat me more times than I’m going to beat him, but at least I know I could do it.”
While Hamrick knew what he was up against in Uihlein, Tim Honeycutt didn’t know he was facing such a highly-ranked player in Cody Gribble. When told Gribble was
Golfweek’s 7th-ranked junior, Honeycutt looked stunned.
“I haven’t checked the Internet in like two weeks,” Honeycutt said. “I had never heard of him before this tournament.
“I heard some kids saying he was pretty good.”
Carrying his own bag with temperatures pushing 90 degrees, Honeycutt hung on for a 1-up victory over Gribble. The match went all square at No. 10 when Gribble holed out for eagle from 110 yards. But he made three bogeys coming in, including one at 18 that sealed Honeycutt’s victory.
In the first match of the morning, medalist Sung Yul Noh defeated Daily Young, 6 and 5. Noh was 6 under through 13 holes and had eight one-putts.
“No secret,” Noh said through his caddie/interpreter Benny Kim. “Right now I’m just feeling the tempo. Even Tiger Woods couldn’t beat me today.”
After defeating David Chung in a 20-hole marathon on Tuesday, Wesley Graham defeated Luke Guthrie, 3 up, on Wednesday morning. Graham had four birdies through 11 holes to build a 4-up lead and was never down at anytime during the match, a welcome change from yesterday’s grind.
“It wasn’t as stressful today,” Graham said. “I was more relaxed and I was putting the ball much better today.
Also advancing was Jack Fields, who won in 20 holes over Devin Miertschin. Fields was 3 up after 14 holes, but bogeyed Nos. 15, 17 and 18. He then won with a birdie on the 20th hole.
• • •
Dan Mirocha is a
Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him e-mail
dmirocha@golfweek.com.
Results from the second round of match play
at the U.S. Junior Amateur, played July 25 at par-71, 6,894-yard Boone
Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo.:
| SECOND ROUND |
|
| Seung Yul Noh def. Daily Young |
6 and 5 |
| Cory Whitsett def. Zac Blair |
3 and 2 |
| Chris Cho def. T.J. Vogel |
2 and 1 |
| Jack Fields def. Devin Miertschin |
20 holes |
| Wesley Graham def. Luke Guthrie |
3 and 2 |
| Morgan Hoffmann def. Bhavik Patel |
3 and 2 |
| Sean Dale def. Matthew Giles |
4 and 2 |
| Tim Honeycutt def. Cody Gribble |
1 up |
| Peter Uihlein def. Hunter Hamrick |
1 up |
| Jeffrey Kang def. Lee Bedford |
4 and 3 |
| John Huh def. Ronnald Monaco |
3 and 1 |
| Anthony Paolucci def. Jeffrey Hamm |
3 and 2 |
| James White def. Wesley Bryan |
3 and 1 |
| Michael McGowan def. Jhared Hack |
2 and 1 |
| Hyun Seok Lim def. Will McCurdy |
3 and 2 |
| Sean Brannan def. Cameron Peck |
2 and 1 |
|
|
| FIRST ROUND |
|
| Seung Yul Noh def. Jackson Beindorf |
4 and 3 |
| Daily Young def. Ben Vertz |
5 and 3 |
| Cory Whitsett def. Gaston De La Torre |
5 and 4 |
| Zac Blair def. Alex Shi Yup Kim |
2 and 1 |
| T.J. Vogel def. Brett Cairns |
2 up |
| Chris Cho def. Spencer Anderson |
19 holes |
| Devin Miertschin def. Benjamin Thorseth |
2 and 1 |
| Jack Fields def. Santiago Gavino |
4 and 2 |
| Luke Guthrie def. Mu Hu |
6 and 4 |
| Wesley Graham def. David Chung |
20 holes |
| Morgan Hoffmann def. Taylor Fontaine |
4 and 3 |
| Bhavik Patel def. Brian Carter |
19 holes |
| Sean Dale def. Cameron Wilson |
1 up |
| Matthew Giles def. Blake Redmond |
4 and 2 |
| Cody Gribble def. Alan Lee |
3 and 2 |
| Tim Honeycutt def. Daniel Meggs |
2 and 1 |
| Hunter Hamrick def. Alex Lyall |
1 up |
| Peter Uihlein def. Alex Moon |
3 and 2 |
| Jeffrey Kang def. James Erkenbeck |
1 up |
| Lee Bedford def. Nick Delio |
1 up |
| Ronnald Monaco def. Matt Nolasco |
5 and 4 |
| John Huh def. Logan Knebels |
4 and 2 |
| Jeffrey Hamm def. J.J. Spaun |
5 and 4 |
| Anthony Paolucci def. William Cauley |
5 and 4 |
| James White def. Ryan Kelley |
4 and 2 |
| Wesley Bryan def. Tyler Mitchell |
4 and 3 |
| Jhared Hack def. Sam Chien |
3 and 2 |
| Michael McGowan def. Joon An |
1 up |
| Hyun Seok Lim def. Brad Miller |
1 up |
| Sean Brannan def. Danny Lee |
19 holes |
| Cameron Peck def. John Pavelko |
3 and 2 |
• • •
Click here for results from stroke-play qualifying.
Posted: 7/26/2007
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