Top seed falls in U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinal round

ANDOVER – Matthew Wolff advanced to the semifinals of the 70th U.S. Junior Amateur on Friday morning, defeating future Oklahoma State teammate Austin Eckroat 1 up in the quarterfinals at Flint Hills National Golf Club.

Wolff, an 18-year-old from Agoura Hills, Calif., eliminated the No. 1 seed in the process and denied Eckroat’s bid to become the first stroke-play medalist to win the U.S. Junior since PGA Tour star Jordan Spieth won the first of his two titles in 2009.

Wolff will play South Africa’s Garrick Higgo at 12:20 p.m. in the semifinals, part of which will be televised on Fox Sports 1. India’s Rayhan Thomas will face Texan Noah Goodwin, the 2016 U.S. Junior runner-up, in the other semifinal.

“It’s unbelievable,” Wolff said. “I made it to the round of 16 in 2015 and making it to the semifinals now with all these great players in the field – even the ones who lost like Min Woo Lee, Frankie (Capan), Cole Hammer – there’s so many great players that to even make it this far and still be competing is awesome.”

Wolff won with a conceded eagle at the par-5 18th after Eckroat, an Edmond, Okla., native, hit his second shot at the 524-yard hole into a front bunker, then flew his third over the green. After hitting a downhill flop shot 30 feet past the hole and missing the birdie attempt, he picked up his ball and congratulated Wolff.

“That was my only mishit of the day,” Eckroat said of the 4-iron from 220 yards that cleared the lake guarding the 18th green, but dropped into the deep bunker. “I’m disappointed, but I had a good tournament for sure. I was way under par.”

Wolff, who was 4 under par going to the last hole, countered Eckroat’s wayward second with a 208-yard cut shot that stopped 30 feet left of the pin. After Eckroat’s difficulty around the green, he never had to putt against the player he roomed with all week.

“It was kind of just a birdiefest out there,” Wolff said. “I knew from the start that it would be a really close match and it just kind of went my way at the end.”

Wolff will try to advance to Saturday’s 36-hole championship, but must get past Higgo, a left-hander who blistered Aman Gupta of Charlotte, N.C., 7 and 6. Higgo, a UNLV commit, won six of the first seven holes as Gupta played the stretch in 5 over par.

Thomas, who lives in Dubai, trailed 15-year-old Californian Ryan Smith for the first 11 holes of their match. But he won three of the last six holes with pars to eliminate Smith, whose path to the quarterfinals included a 22-hole victory over Wichita’s Wells Padgett in the opening round.

Thomas’ next test will come from Goodwin, who defeated four-time U.S. Junior qualifier Davis Shore of Knoxville, Tenn., 2 up. Thomas, a 17-year-old who lost to Lee in last year’s in Ooltewah, Tenn. birdied the first hole and never trailed against Shore, who will play at Alabama this fall. Thomas, who has committed to SMU, closed the match with a birdie at No. 18.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Top seed falls in U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinal round."