Logan Reilly's Merion Magic Continues: 8 Players Advance to Next Round
Logan Reilly and Carter Loflin each staged dramatic comebacks to win their matches in extra holes, sending them to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at Merion.
Loflin, who just finished his fourth year at Georgia, gave away the final two holes with bogeys against William Jennings, the junior at Alabama and No. 5 in the world amateur ranking. Loflin then hit a wedge to 5 feet for birdie on the first extra hole to advance.
Reilly, the Auburn sophomore who won the clinching point for the Tigers when they captured another NCAA golf championship, three-putted the par-3 17th for a bogey and then took four shots to get down from the front of the troublesome 18th green. This sent his match with Oklahoma senior Ryder Cowan back to the first hole.
Both Reilly and Cowan narrowly missed sharp-breaking birdie putts in the 12-foot range on the par-4 second. Reilly two-putted for par, and won the match when Cowan's par putt drifted to the right. Cowan is No. 8 in the amateur ranking.
Michael Lugiano, the Pennsylvania native who has won all three of his matches on the 18th hole, also advanced to the quarterfinals. Lugiano, a junior at Liberty University, described his experience as "pretty nerve-wracking" and "stressful."
Tyler Watts, an 18-year-old incoming freshman at Tennessee and the highest-ranked player remaining Thursday, was 2 up early against Stanford junior Jay Leng Jr. but lost to him 1 up.
In other matches, Texas Tech senior Adam Bresnu of Morocco overwhelmed Max Herendeen, 5 and 4; Colorado senior Brandon Knight rallied for a 1-up victory over Gaven Lane; Jack Whaley of England, a senior at Florida State, cruised to a 4-and-3 victory over Christian Cavaliere; and Florida senior Jack Turner beat fellow Gator Joshua Bai of New Zealand, 5 and 3.
At stake for the winner of the 126th U.S. Amateur is a spot in the U.S. Open next year at Pebble Beach, and in the Masters and British Open if he stays an amateur.
The quarterfinals are set to take place on Friday, with Reilly, Loflin, Lugiano, and the other four remaining players vying for a spot in the semifinals.
Source: Yahoo Sports
