| Aug. 10-16, 2020, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails), Bandon, Ore. mediacenter.usga.org | usamateur.org | @usga_pr (media Twitter) | @usga (Twitter and Instagram) | USGA (Facebook) | #USAmateur |
| What Happened Stewart Hagestad came into this week’s U.S. Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort with two main goals: make a deep enough run to lower his World Amateur Golf Ranking® to gain a U.S. Open exemption, and continue his push toward making a third consecutive USA Walker Cup Team next spring. On Tuesday, the lanky Southern Californian was in a tenuous position to fulfill those aspirations, sitting at 2 over par through 26 holes of stroke play. But he played his last 10 holes in 6 under to complete a 6-under 66 at Bandon Dunes and put himself comfortably into the match-play draw. That set up a Round-of-64 matchup with 2020 Latin America Amateur champion Abel Gallegos, of Argentina. And just as in stroke play, the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion had to find some intestinal fortitude to avoid a premature exit. Down one hole with two to play, Hagestad, 29, of Newport Beach, rallied with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to pull out a 1-up victory over the talented 18-year-old. “I stayed patient and played great,” said Hagestad, who is currently No. 15 in the WAGR. The top 7 in the WAGR on Aug. 19 who are not previously exempt get into next month’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. “It’s obviously tough to back up a nice round coming off of yesterday, but I played really hard and stayed patient and was lucky to make a couple birdies when I needed them.” Hagestad, who has competed in the last three U.S. Opens, was one of four USGA champions to post opening-round victories on a sunny, breezy day on the southwest Oregon coast. Temperatures creeped into the low 60s with sustained winds in the teens and gusts as high as 24 miles per hour. Michael Thorbjornsen, 18, of Wellesley, Mass., the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, joined Hagestad, 2015 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Philip Barbaree, 22, of Shreveport, La., and 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion Frankie Capan, 20, of North Oaks, Minn., in the Round of 32. A two-time USGA champion, Scott Harvey, 42, of Kernersville, N.C., who won last year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at the adjacent Old Macdonald course, wasn’t so fortunate, as he fell to Notre Dame rising senior Davis Chatfield, 21, of Attleboro, Mass., 1 up. While 2019 runner-up John Augenstein, 22, of Owensboro, Ky., and Davis Thompson, 21, of Sea Island, Ga., at No. 4 the highest-ranked player in the field, were eliminated, medalist Wilson Furr, 22, of Jackson, Miss., rolled to a 6-and-4 victory over Aaron Du, 18, of the People’s Republic of China. Furr, who carded a course-record 62 at Bandon Trails in Round 2 of stroke play, continued his torrid play with a pair of eagles on par 4s: Nos. 8 and 10, with the latter conceded. He played the equivalent of 6-under-par golf over 14 holes, with the usual concessions. Thorbjornsen defeated University of Georgia standout Trent Phillips, of Boiling Springs, S.C., 3 and 2, somewhat avenging an opening-round loss from two years ago in the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, when he fell to Trent’s older brother, Trevor. “He played amazing that day,” Thorbjornsen said of that 2018 encounter. “I think he shot 3 or 4 under and I just was helpless out there. I couldn’t do anything against him. But coming into this [match] today, I really didn’t think too much about it. I know Trent is a really good player, but I just had to take it like a normal match, like any other person.” Barbaree, a rising senior at Louisiana State University, saw a 4-up lead evaporate against Turk Pettit before he survived in 19 holes when the Clemson standout missed a 4-foot par putt. Capan, who just transferred to Florida Gulf Coast University from Alabama this summer, survived a hard-fought match with Derek Busby, 2 and 1. Matthew Sharpstene, 21, of Asheville, N.C., posted the biggest upset of the day in defeating Augenstein, 1 up. Down two holes after seven, Sharpstene, a rising junior at UNC Charlotte after transferring from West Virginia, rallied with birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 13 to take a 1-up lead. After Augenstein tied the match with a par on 15, Sharpstene took the lead for good with a winning par at 16. Augenstein’s 18-foot birdie attempt to force extra holes just missed on the par-5 18th. What’s Next Two rounds of match play are scheduled for Thursday, with the Round of 16 in the afternoon being broadcast live by NBC’s new streaming service, Peacock, for one hour (6 p.m.-7 p.m. EDT) followed by two hours on Golf Channel. The first Round-of-32 match is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. PDT. The Round of 16 is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. PDT. Notable – Cameron Sisk, Evan Katz and Aaron Du earned the final three spots in the match-play draw in an 18-for-3 playoff Wednesday morning at Bandon Dunes. Sisk, a semifinalist in the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur, and Katz birdied the par-4 10th hole and Du sealed the last spot with a birdie on No. 11. One notable who failed to qualify was 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion Garrett Barber. Sisk, a standout at Arizona State, was the lone player of the three to post a Round-of-64 win, defeating No. 3 seed Benjamin Shipp, 5 and 4. – Six schools have multiple players in the Round of 32: Arkansas (Julian Perico, Segundo Oliva Pinto), Georgia Tech (Noah Norton, Tyler Strafaci), Louisiana State (Philip Barbaree, Trey Winstead), Notre Dame (Davis Chatfield, Davis Lamb), Pepperdine (Clay Feagler, William Mouw) and Southern Methodist (McClure Meissner, Charles Osborne). – Argentina led the international group with four players making match play. That group included 2020 Latin America Amateur champion Abel Gallegos, along with two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur quarterfinalist Andres Schonbaum, Oliva Pinto and Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira. Pinto was the lone player to advance. – After Austin Eckroat failed to qualify for match play, Oklahoma State coach and 1995 USA Walker Cup Team member Alan Bratton picked up the bag of No. 5 seed Aman Gupta, another one of his OSU players. Bratton was on the bag for Cowboys Peter Uihlein (2010) and Viktor Hovland (2018) when they hoisted the Havemeyer Trophy. – When Sam Harned defeated Travis McInroe, 4 and 3, it marked the fifth time in the last seven years that the No. 61 seed had eliminated the No. 4 seed in the Round of 64. – Noah Norton’s win over David Ford gave the No. 59 seed its fifth consecutive win over a No. 6 seed. – All four of the last-minute alternates to make match play advanced, including Jonathan Yaun, 20, of Minneola, Fla., who birdied four of his last five holes in ousting world No. 4 Davis Thompson, 3 and 1. Yaun was a semifinalist in the North & South Amateur earlier this summer. Fifth seed Aman Gupta, 21, of Concord, N.C., 13th-seeded Hugo Townsend, 21, of Sweden and No. 22 seed Carson Lundell, 22, of Alpine, Utah, also moved into the Round of 32. – Four of the five mid-amateurs to qualify for match play lost in the Round of 32; the lone survivor was Stewart Hagestad. – Five of the 32 matches went extra holes, but just one lasted longer than 19; Hunter Wolcott birdied the par-5 21st to defeat Elis Svard. Quotable “I was excited, just because I wanted to play against someone good, and that way coming out of the gates, if I win, it just shows that I can play. Here I am.” – Matthew Sharpstene on beating 2019 runner-up John Augenstein “The hardest part was that we teed off at 2:25 [p.m.] so I just had to sit around and do nothing all day, so that was a little tricky, but we managed it well and played solid all day.” – Wilson Furr on getting the last tee time of the Round of 64 “I wasn’t as nervous as I was in years past. It’s not in any way to say that I didn’t care, but I was a little bit more comfortable with the position. Obviously, you hope you win, but if you play great and get beat, that’s easier to take. I knew that I was playing some solid golf, and if I continued to execute, hopefully we could make it close.” – Stewart Hagestad on his mindset going into his Round-of-64 match “My first initial thought was … wow, I got a tough draw. Then I was like, that’s a bad thought because I’ve been playing great golf, and I can beat this guy if I play my game and play one shot at a time like I’ve been playing this whole summer and this past school year. Just trusting in the process that God has put me here for a purpose.” – Jonathan Yaun on facing and then beating world No. 4 Davis Thompson “I know Scott [Harvey], just hearing his name everywhere. He’s won pretty much everything at this point, it seems. So I knew I had a tough match ahead of me. He played really well yesterday. I think he shot 5-under [67] on Dunes. I knew I had to get off to a good start to just get some confidence going throughout the round, and I was able to do that.” – Davis Chatfield on beating two-time USGA champion Harvey “This is the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in my golf career.” – Aaron Du after garnering the 64th and final seed for match play in the 18-for-3 playoff by making a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 11th hole, the second of the playoff “I’ve known Karl for so long, and he knows my game and I know his. It’s basically like a puzzle piece, just finding what fits and what doesn’t. I think we make a pretty solid team out there. – Michael Thorbjornsen on having world No. 10 and fellow incoming Stanford freshman Karl Vilips serving as his caddie BANDON, Ore. – Results from Wednesday’s first round of match play at the 2020 U.S. Amateur Championship, played at 7,214-yard, par-72 Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon Dunes course). Round of 64 (Upper Bracket) Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss. (132) vs. Aaron Du, People’s Republic of China (145), 6 and 4 Harrison Ott, Brookfield, Wis. (142) def. Ford Clegg, Mountain Brook, Ala. (142), 5 and 4 Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, Calif. (139) def. Abel Gallegos, Argentina (144), 1 up Spencer Tibbits, Vancouver, Wash. (144) def. Michael Brennan, Leesburg, Va. (139), 2 and 1 McClure Meissner, San Antonio, Texas (138) def. Angus Flanagan, England (144), 2 and 1 Segundo Oliva Pinto, Argentina (143) def. John Gough, England (141), 19 holes Julian Perico, Peru (138) def. Andres Schonbaum, Argentina (144), 3 and 2 Tyler Strafaci, Davie, Fla. (143) def. Kelly Chinn, Great Falls, Va. (141), 4 and 2 Sam Harned, Rocklin, Calif. (144) def. Travis McInroe, McKinney, Texas (136), 4 and 3 Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, Argentina (143) def. David Perkins, East Peoria, Ill. (141), 3 and 1 Hugo Townsend, Sweden (139) def. Michael Feagles, Scottsdale, Ariz. (144), 4 and 2 Michael Thorbjornsen, Wellesley, Mass. (140) def. Trent Phillips, Boiling Springs, S.C. (143), 3 and 2 Aman Gupta, Concord, N.C. (137) def. Van Holmgren, Plymouth, Minn. (144), 3 and 2 Jonathan Yaun, Minneola, Fla. (143) def. Davis Thompson, St. Simons Island, Ga. (141), 3 and 1 Clay Feagler, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (139) def. Eddy Lai, San Jose, Calif. (144), 4 and 3 Sam Bennett, Madisonville, Texas (143) def. Andy Lopez, Dallas, Texas (140), 3 and 2 (Lower Bracket) James Piot, Canton, Mich. (134) def. Evan Katz, Washington, D.C. (145), 19 holes William Mouw, Chino, Calif. (142) def. Jordan Batchelor, Jacksonville, Fla. (142), 3 and 2 Frankie Capan, North Oaks, Minn. (139) def. Derek Busby, Ruston, La. (144), 2 and 1 Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. (143) def. Turk Pettit, Sugar Grove, N.C. (140), 19 holes Matthew Sharstene, Asheville, N.C. (144) def. John Augenstein, Owensboro, Ky. (138), 1 up Andrew Kozan, West Palm Beach, Fla. (141) def. Patrick Welch, Providence, R.I. (143), 4 and 3 Davis Chatfield, Attleboro, Mass. (144) def. Scott Harvey, Kernersville, N.C. (138), 1 up Sandy Scott, Scotland (143) def. Brayden Garrison, Knoxville, Tenn. (141), 3 and 2 Cameron Sisk, San Diego, Calif. (145) def. Ben Shipp, Duluth, Ga. (135), 5 and 4 Jack Trent, Australia (142) def. Jackson Suber, Tampa, Fla. (142), 3 and 2 Davis Lamb, Potomac, Md. (144) def. Joey Vrzich, La Jolla, Calif. (139), 2 and 1 Trey Winstead, Baton Rouge, La. (140) def. Kevin O’Connell, Cary, N.C. (143), 2 and 1 Noah Norton, Chico, Calif. (144) def. David Ford, Peachtree Corners, Ga. (137), 3 and 2 Charles Osborne, Reno, Nev. (141) def. William Walker III, Tuscaloosa, Ala. (143), 1 up Hunter Wolcott, Dickson, Tenn. (139) def. Elis Svard, Sweden (144), 21 holes Carson Lundell, Alpine, Utah (140) def. Puwit Anupansuebsai, Thailand (143), 19 holes BANDON, Ore. – Pairings and tee times for Thursday’s second round of match play at the 2020 U.S. Amateur Championship, played at 7,214-yard, par-72 Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon Dunes course). All Times PDT Round of 32 (Upper Bracket) 7 a.m. – Wilson Furr, Jackson, Miss. (132) vs. Harrison Ott, Brookfield, Wis. (142) 7:10 a.m. – Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, Calif. (139) vs. Spencer Tibbits, Vancouver, Wash. (144) 7:20 a.m. – McClure Meissner, San Antonio, Texas (138) vs. Segundo Oliva Pinto, Argentina (143) 7:30 a.m. – Julian Perico, Peru (138) vs. Tyler Strafaci, Davie, Fla. (143) 7:40 a.m. – Sam Harned, Rocklin, Calif. (144) vs. Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, Argentina (143) 7:50 a.m. – Hugo Townsend, Sweden (139) vs. Michael Thorbjornsen, Wellesley, Mass. (140) 8 a.m. – Aman Gupta, Concord, N.C. (137) vs. Jonathan Yaun, Minneola, Fla. (143) 8:10 a.m. – Clay Feagler, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (139) vs. Sam Bennett, Madisonville, Texas (143) (Lower Bracket) 8:20 a.m. – James Piot, Canton, Mich. (134) vs. William Mouw, Chino, Calif. (142) 8:30 a.m. – Frankie Capan, North Oaks, Minn. (139) vs. Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. (143) 8:40 a.m. – Matthew Sharpstene, Asheville, N.C. (144) vs. Andrew Kozan, West Palm Beach, Fla. (141) 8:50 a.m. – Davis Chatfield, Attleboro, Mass. (144) vs. Sandy Scott, Scotland (143) 9 a.m. – Cameron Sisk, San Diego, Calif. (145) vs. Jack Trent, Australia (142) 9:10 a.m. – Davis Lamb, Potomac, Md. (144) vs. Trey Winstead, Baton Rouge, La. (140) 9:20 a.m. – Noah Norton, Chico, Calif. (144) vs. Charles Osborne, Reno, Nev. (141) 9:30 a.m. – Hunter Wolcott, Dickson, Tenn. (139) vs. Carson Lundell, Alpine, Utah (140) *Round of 32 winners advance to the third round of match play on Thursday, beginning at 1:30 p.m. PDT # # # |
