Arkansas senior Sebastian Cappelen’s run at the U.S. Amateur ended Thursday in the second round of match play at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
No. 15 seed Charlie Hughes of Canada defeated Cappelen 4 and 3 in the morning round before being eliminated 2 and 1 later Thursday by co-medalist Brady Watt of Australia.
Hughes won four of the first five holes to go 4 up against Cappelen, who was a semifinalist at the recent Western Amateur at The Alotian Club at Roland. Cappelen won the par-4 6th, but Hughes made the turn with a 4-up advantage after winning the 9th.
Cappelen birdied the par-4 10th to get a hole back, but Hughes seized the momentum again when Cappelen bogeyed the 11th. Cappelen won the 13th with a birdie, which was the last hole he would win as Hughes went dormie four with a birdie on the 14th. Each made par on the 15th,giving Hughes the victory.
Co-medalist Neil Raymond, who is trying to become the first English winner since 1911, beat Zachary Olsen of Cordova, Tenn., 2 and 1 in the morning and edged Australia’s Nathan Holman 1 up in the afternoon. Watt topped Seth Reeves of Duluth, Ga., 3 and 2 in the morning before defeating Hughes. Reeves was defeated by eventual Western Amateur champion Jordan Niebrugge in the quarterfinals at The Alotian but exacted a measure of revenge Wednesday when he defeated Niebrugge in the opening round of match play at Brookline.
Today Raymond will face Canada’s Corey Conners, a 5-and-3 winner over Patrick Rodgers of Avon, Ind. Rodgers was the medalist at the Western Amateur but lost in the first round of match play to Sean Dale of Jacksonville, Fla. At Brookline, he survived a playoff to advance to match play, then beat Dale in the first round.
“I don’t feel like I’m a medalist. I just feel like I’m another competitor in the guys that are left,” Raymond said. “We’ve all got as much of a chance as anyone else.On the flip side, I feel really good about my game.”
In the other upper-bracket quarterfinal, Adam Ball of Richmond, Va., will meet England’s Matt Fitzpatrick. Ball routed Chelso Barrett of Surry, N.H., 6 and 5, and Fitzpatrick beat Gavin Hall of Pittsford, N.Y., 4 and 3.
Fitzpatrick, from Northwestern, is well aware he and Raymond give England 25 percent of the quarterfinalists as they bid for the country’s first country in this tournament in over a century - and to further England’s name in the international community.
In the lower-bracket quarterfinals, Watt, who missed the first cut of the top 44 plus ties by one stroke at the Western Amateur, will face 17-year-old Scottie Scheffler of Dallas, the youngest player in the quarterfinals; and Australia’s Oliver Goss will meet Brandon Matthews of Dupont, Pa.
Scheffler, the U.S. Junior Amateur winner last month, made his third consecutive late comeback and beat Austria’s Matthias Schwab 1 up. Goss topped Xander Schauffele of San Diego 3 and 1 and Matthews edged Charlie Danielson of Osceola, Wis., 3 and 2 in the other matches.
Like Watt, Goss, Holman, Schauffele and Danielson did not make the first cut during their stay at the Western Amateur and were eliminated after the second round of stroke play.
U.S. Amateur results The Country Club Brookline, Mass.
Par 70, 7,310 yards NOTE Players listed in BOLD have Arkansas ties or participated in the recent Western Amateur at The Alotian Club in Roland.
SECOND ROUND UPPER BRACKET Neil Raymond, England (134) def. Zachary Olsen, Cordova, Tenn. (142), 2 and 1. Nathan Holman, Australia (140) def. Blair Hamilton, Canada (143), 4 and 3.
Corey Conners, Canada (143) def. Bryson Dechambeau, Clovis, Calif. (138), 2 and 1.
Patrick Rodgers, Avon, Ind. (144) def. Greg Eason, England (141), 3 and 2.
Chelso Barrett, Surry, N.H. (142) def. Justin Shin, Canada (137), 4 and 3.
Adam Ball, Richmond, Va. (141) def. Max Orrin, England (139), 2 and 1.
Matt Fitzpatrick, England (137) def. Blake Morris, Waterbury, Conn. (142), 4 and 3. Gavin Hall, Pittsford, N.Y. (144) def. Bobby Wyatt, Mobile, Ala. (143), 4 and 2.
LOWER BRACKET Brady Watt, Australia (134) def. Seth Reeves, Duluth, Ga. (142), 3 and 2.
Charlie Hughes, Canada (139) def. Sebastian Cappelen, Denmark (140), 4 and 3.
Matthias Schwab, Austria (141) def. Zac Blair, Ogden, Utah (144), 2 and 1.
Scottie Scheffler, Dallas (144) def. Brandon Hagy, Westlake Village, Calif. (143), 20 holes.
Oliver Goss, Australia (137) def. Carr Vernon, Poplar Bluff, Mo. (142), 2 up.
Xander Schauffele, San Diego (140) def. Scott Wolfes, St. Simons Island, Ga. (139), 2 and 1.
Charlie Danielson, Osceola, Wis. (143) def. Chase Koepka, Lake Worth, Fla. (144), 3 and 1.
Brandon Matthews, Dupont, Pa. (141) def. Gavin Green, Malaysia (144), 4 and 3.
THIRD ROUND UPPER BRACKET Neil Raymond, England (134) def. Nathan Holman, Australia (140), 1 up.
Corey Conners, Canada (143) def. Patrick Rodgers, Avon, Ind. (144), 5 and 3. Adam Ball, Richmond, Va. (141) def. Chelso Barrett, Surry, N.H. (142), 6 and 5. Matt Fitzpatrick, England (137) def. Gavin Hall, Pittsford, N.Y. (144), 4 and 3.
LOWER BRACKET Brady Watt, Australia (134) def. Charlie Hughes, Canada (139), 2 and 1.
Scottie Scheffler, Dallas (144) def. Matthias Schwab, Austria (141), 1 up.
Oliver Goss, Australia (137) def. Xander Schauffele, San Diego (140), 3 and 1.
Brandon Matthews, Dupont, Pa. (141) def. Charlie Danielson, Osceola, Wis. (143), 3 and 2.
Sports, Pages 25 on 08/16/2013