Round of 32:
Canadian Austin James won four holes in a row in the middle of the front nine and posted a 3-and-2 victory over Denny McCarthy, of Rockville, in the second round of the 115th U.S. Amateur Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago, Aug. 20.
McCarthy, the last Maryland entry standing, rallied to close within 1-down after winning three times in a four-hole span through hole number 10. James battled right back, winning hole 11 with a par and hole 12 with a birdie to restore a 3-up margin.
The pair alternated winning a hole from there through the 16th, as McCarthy won hole 13 with a par and hole 15 with his only birdie of the day. James won hole 14 with a birdie and hole 16, the latter finally clinching the match. At the end, James had won nine holes, McCarthy, six, and they halved only the ninth with bogeys.
This was McCarthy’s seventh consecutive Amateur appearance, and very likely his last, as he is expected to turn professional in the fall.
Match Play – Round One:
Denny McCarthy, of Rockville, was never out of the lead in defeating Jacob Hicks, Greenville, N.C., 4 and 3, in the first round of match play in the 115th U.S. Amateur Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago, Wednesday, August 19.
McCarthy, 22, finished his two rounds of stroke play (72-70) at 142 on Tuesday and had to wait Wednesday morning until the darkness-interrupted round could be completed prior to the start of match play. As it developed, McCarthy and Matt Oshrine, Baltimore, who also shot 72-70–142, made the cut with a stroke to spare. An eighteen player for ten spot playoff at 143 sorted out the available places.
McCarthy, from Argyle CC, went 3 up in the first six holes, lost the next two and they halved the ninth, leaving him 1 up. On the back nine, he birdied 10 and 11 for 3 up and closed it out with a winning par at the 15th.
Other Middle Atlantic area players were not so fortunate. Oshrine, 19, from The Suburban Club, was in and out of the lead before going 1-down to Thomas Detry, of Belgium, at the 15th and lost the 18th, as Detry won, 2 up.
Those who did not qualify for match play were: Keith Unikel, Potomac, 74-72–146; Ryan Cole, Mt. Airy, 70-76–146; Michael Muehr, Potomac Falls, Va., 71-76–147; Patrick Moriarty, Rockville, 73-74–147; Mark Cusic, California, 77-71–148; Evan Katz, Washington, 76-75–151; Chris Hickman, Centreville, 70-83–153; Pat Tallent, Vienna, Va., 80-80–160.
Qualifying Round:
Ryan Cole, of Mt. Airy, and Chris Hickman, of Centreville, led the Middle Atlantic entries through the first round of the U.S. Amateur championship at Olympia Fields CC, in suburban Chicago, August 17, firing 70’s over the South Course, at 7,045 the shorter of the two courses being used.
Also on the South were Denny McCarthy, of Rockville, 72, and Matt Oshrine, Baltimore, 72, which was at the end of the top quarter in the 312-man field. The group’s North Course (7,234 yards) leader was Michael Muehr, Potomac Falls, Va., 71.
Patrick Moriarty, Rockville, followed at 73NC; Keith Unikel, Potomac, 74SC; Evan Katz, Washington, 76SC; Mark Cusic, California, 77NC, and Pat Tallent, at 62 the oldest player in the field, from Vienna, Va.
The second and concluding round of stroke play will be played August 18, after which the field will be cut to the low 64 for match play, beginning August 19.
-Reported by: John Stewart