Two Co-Medalists at U.S. Amateur


A pair of Southeastern Conference players, Lee McCoy, 20, of Clarkesville, Ga., and Taylor Moore, 21, of Edmond, Okla., shared medalist honors by three strokes Tuesday at the 2014 U.S. Amateur. Their 36-hole stroke-play qualifying totals were 8-under-par 135 at Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia.

Both played their second rounds on the club's Highlands course, with McCoy, a junior at Georgia, notching a 3-under-par 68, and Moore, a junior at Arkansas, a 2-under-par 69.

McCoy, a second-team All-American in his third U.S. Amateur, resides about 65 miles from Atlanta Athletic Club. He recorded six birdies, a double-bogey and a bogey for his 68.

"I couldn't be any happier," said McCoy of sharing the medal. "Well, I guess I could be. I'd like to be holding the trophy at the end of the week but that being said, it is a long week. It's great to be a high seed going into the weekend, but you know, main goal is still in check. I am still trying to get that trophy."

Moore carded five birdies and three bogeys. "It is pretty cool and it shows that I played well for two days and had a lot of chances for birdies," he said. "It ranks up there pretty high - maybe number one."

McCoy, playing in his first U.S. Amateur, was buoyed by the local support. "Oh, it's awesome," he said. "I got so many 'Go Dawgs' out there on the golf course today it was unbelievable. I didn't hear any 'Go Jackets' from anybody, so that was good. It's awesome to be so close to home, and I've got plenty of friends and family out here to support me this week."

Moore is pleased with his performance in the first two rounds. "I just tried to treat stroke play as a tournament within a tournament and still compete and stay aggressive today, which I did, but I wasn't as sharp (as Monday)," said Moore.

"I just kind of used it as a practice round for match play, in a way, getting another look at the course, but still hitting shots and trying to make putts and figuring out the greens. I think I did a good job of that."

Following 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying, the road gets tougher for those who made it through as now there are six rounds of head-to-head match play. The champion will be determined in a 36-hole final Sunday.

The co-medalists' match-play opponents will be determined in a 17-man playoff for four berths, which begins Wednesday at 8 a.m. on the first hole at the Riverside Course. The cut for the playoff came at 2-over-par 145; the players include four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and three-time USA Walker Cup Team member Nathan Smith.

Behind McCoy and Moore are five players at 5-under-par 138: Kennesaw (Ga.) State senior Jimmy Beck, 21, of Columbus, Ga., a co-leader after the first round; Sam Burns, 18, of Shreveport, La., who shot the day's low round of 66 on the Riverside; 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Will Zalatoris, 17, of Plano, Texas; 2014 British Open competitor and 2012 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist Cheng-Tsung Pan, 22, of Chinese Taipei and a senior at the University of Washington; and Jonathan Garrick, 20, of Atherton, Calif.

Also advancing to match play are 2013 U.S. Amateur semifinalist Corey Conners of Canada and three USGA champions: Byron Meth (2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links), Jordan Niebrugge (2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links), and Scottie Scheffler (2013 U.S. Junior Amateur).

Mike McCoy, the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

In addition to Lee McCoy and Beck, four other players from Georgia advanced to match play: Georgia Tech All-American Ollie Schniederjans of Powder Springs, the No.1-ranked amateur in the world; fellow Yellow Jacket Seth Reeves of Sewanee; Chris Waters of Atlanta and Mookie DeMoss of Duluth.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information and complete scoring details, visit www.usga.org.