The University of Arkansas will have two golfers among the final 32 at the U.S. Amateur Championship after Julian Perico and Segundo Oliva Pinto both won their matches Wednesday at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.
Perico showed his match play mettle once again by pulling away late against Andres Schonbaum to advance with a 3 and 2 win. Oliva Pinto, playing in the pairing ahead of Perico, needed a little bit longer to outlast John Gough. The junior transfer nailed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole to close out his match.
If Perico and Oliva Pinto win their morning matches today, they will meet in an afternoon match in the round of 16.
Perico won four of the last seven holes to close out Schonbaum, an Argentinian and senior at Jacksonville State. Perico went 3-0 in match play as a freshman to help Arkansas win the 2019 SEC Championship.
Perico, the No. 9 seed after stroke play, fell behind by one hole with a bogey at No. 3, but immediately gained it back with a par on the next hole. Schonbaum, the No. 56 seed, went back ahead on the 5th hole and maintained his 1-up lead through the turn.
That's when Perico took over. The junior from Peru birdied the par-4 10th hole to even the match, then carded back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to take a 2-up lead. Perico closed out the match when Schonbaum bogeyed the 16th.
Perico will face Tyler Strafaci, a senior at Georgia Tech, in the morning round of 32 today. Oliva Pinto will take on No. 8 seed McClure Meissner of SMU.
Oliva Pinto tied his match against Gough, a senior at North Carolina-Charlotte with a birdie at No. 17 on the Bandon Dunes Course, then closed out the Englishman with the clutch birdie putt on the 19th hole at No. 1.
Oliva Pinto, a junior transfer from North Carolina-Wilmington, salvaged the victory after going 13 consecutive holes without a win. The native of Argentina started hot by winning the first three holes, triggered by birdies on Nos. 1 and 3 and with a par at No. 2.
However, Gough grinded his way back into the match with wins on Nos. 4, 7 and 11, then took the lead with a par at the 12th. Gough maintained the one-hole lead through the 16th before Oliva Pinto's late run.
