Co-Medalists Continue to Move through Match Play at U.S. Amateur


Co-medalists Neil Raymond of England and Brady Watt of Australia both advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

On a Thursday that included morning and afternoon 18-hole matches, Raymond, who's trying to become the first Englishman to win the U.S. Amateur since Harold Hilton in 1911, defeated Zachary Olsen of Cordova, Tenn., 2 and 1 in the first match of the day. He then beat Australian Nathan Holman by a 1-up margin in the afternoon.

Watt, No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and seeking to be only the second Aussie winner, beat Seth Reeves of Duluth, Ga., 3 and 2, and then edged Charlie Hughes, a player on the University of Washington's golf team, 2 and 1, in the afternoon.

On Friday, Raymond will square off against Canada's Corey Conners, who beat Bryson Dechambeau of Clovis, Calif., and then eliminated Patrick Rodgers of Avon, Ind., 5 and 3. Out of the five players named to the 10-man, 2013 Walker Cup team, Rodgers was the only one who made it to match play in the 2013 U.S. Amateur. Max Homa, Michael Kim, Justin Thomas and Cory Whitsett failed to make the cut in stroke play.

Watt will face recently crowned U.S. Junior Amateur champion Scott Scheffler, who in two tight matches Thursday beat Brandon Nagy of Westlake Village, Calif., in 20 holes and then got past Matthias Schwab of Austria 1-up.

Adam Ball also won both his matches. The Richmond, Va., native beat Max Orrin of England, 2 and 1, and then eliminated Chelso Barrett of Surry, N.H., by a 6 and 5 score. Ball will face Matt Fitzpatrick of England, who beat Blake Morris of Waterbury, Conn., 4 and 3, in the morning and Gavin Hall, Pittsford, N.Y., 4 and 3, in the afternoon.

In the other quarterfinal, Oliver Goss of Australia will go against Brandon Matthews of Dupont, Pa. In the morning, Goss forged a 2-up victory over Carr Vernon, Poplar Bluff, Mo., and later in the day beat Xander Schauffele of San Diego 3 and 1. Matthews won his matches over Gavin Green of Malaysia and Charlie Danielson, Osceola, Wis., by the scores of 4 and 3 and 3 and 2, respectively.

The final eight players will square off in the 18-hole quarterfinal matches Friday, with the winners advancing to Saturday's semifinals. The 36-hole championship match will take place Sunday.

For all the scores, visit http://www.usga.org/ChampEventScore.aspx?id=17179869326&year=2013&type=reversetree.