MI sophomore Nick Carlson won two matches on the 19th hole Thursday at Oakland Hills to advance to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals.
Advertisement
Carlson will face 20-year-old Australian Curtis Luck, a 2-up victor over Pepperdine sophomore Sahith Theegala of Chino Hills, California.
The Sooner defeated USC rising junior Jonah Texeira in Saturday’s semifinal round, 3 and 2.
After halving the next two holes with pars, Gagne’s errant tee shot at the par-four 15 led to a bogey as Texeira moved to dormie at 3-up with just three holes to play in the match. Both players had spectacular shots into the 11th green; Luck striking it to about five feet from a fairway bunker, and Carlson from two feet. Carlson missed a putt for birdie from about 20 feet, ending the match. I hit the leaf I was trying to hit and it took another hop and just kind of trickled right on down.. As Coach (Illinois’ Mike Small) preaches, we own 10-footers, we own 6-footers, we own these putts that put us in these positions, and as a good player, you’re going to be in these positions.
But the rally was short lived and Luck closed out the match when he won the 32 hole to win 6&4.
The U.S. Amateur Championship continues on FOX 28 with the third round on Saturday at noon and the final round on Sunday at noon.
The win will see Luck’s name added to the prestigious Havemyer Trophy alongside some of the greatest who have played the game, including Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson. Both players parred that hole, and Carlson appeared to be in great shape when he hit his approach to within a couple feet on No. 11.
“I was in the top four”.
“I’m the calmest I’ve ever been this week”, said Carlson, playing in his first USGA championship. “Are you kidding me?” Carlson said, with a smile, his cheeks still glistening from the tears. “Seventy-five hundred people have tried to get into this tournament through qualifiers and whatnot, and then 312 to start the week”.
After Texeira missed a birdie putt to regain the lead on the par-5 12th, Dalke seized control of the match with three consecutive wins on 13-15 and sealed the match with a par on 16.
Dalke, the only five-time first-team Rolex Junior All-American, rebounded from a 2-down deficit through six holes.
Advertisement
It looked like Carlson would win his third 19th hole of the week with a par because Luck was still 10 feet away from the cup after his chip.
