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by Jack Persons
NEWTON, Kan. (July 15, 2014) -- Four players
tied for medalist honors on Tuesday at the
U.S.
Amateur Public Links.
Byron Meth, Doug Ghim, Rico Hoey, and Zane
Thomas all posted eight-under 134 in the
stroke
play portion of the event to become the final
USAPL medalists.
Meth, a rising senior at the University of the
Pacific, shot a second consecutive four-under
67
on Tuesday at Sand Creek Station Golf Course
to
grab a share of the lead. He mixed in birdies at
five, six, nine, and 10, along with 14 pars to
make
a bogey-free day.
“I played really steady rounds the last two
days,”
Meth said in an interview with the USGA. “The
ultimate goal was just to get into match play,
but
obviously I’m honored to be the last medalist
at
the Pub Links.”Ghim, an incoming freshman at
Texas, fired a blazing six-under 65 to follow up
his
first-round 69, but it could have been lower.
Had
he not bogeyed his last hole of the day, he
would
have taken medalist honors and the top seed
outright. Still, seven birdies and a single bogey
is
no small feat.
One player beat out Ghim for the lowest round
of
the day: Rico Hoey. The USC rising sophomore,
who shot even-par 71 in the first round,
played
near-perfect golf on Tuesday to tie for first, as
he
made seven birdies and no bogeys on his way
to
64. Amazingly, none of his birdies came on par-
fives.
Zane Thomas of UNLV rounds out the medalist
contingent, and was the only first-round leader
to
end up as medalist. Thomas started hot on
Tuesday, making five birdies and no bogeys in
his
first 10 holes, but fell back with three bogeys
in a
five hole stretch on the back. He rebounded on
the last with a birdie to post three-under 68
for a
134 total and sneak into the T1 position.
Thomas’ co-first round leaders Michael Colgate
and Garrett Rank both followed up their five-
under
66s with four-over 75s and ended up tied for
17th, seven strokes back of the medalists.
Jordan Niebrugge had a tough start to his title
defense, as he shot 72-74=146 to tie for 46th,
well back of the leaders and only a stroke
under
the cut line.
The cut ended up at five-over 147, and 11
players went into a playoff for seven spots.
Joshua Lee of Florida State and Andrej Bevins
of
New Mexico were two of the notables to
survive
the playoff for the final match play seeds.
Thomas will be the top seed when the round of
64
begins on Wednesday, and will face Lee. For
results and live scoring, follow the link below.
--Photo courtesy of USGA
ABOUT THE
U.S. Amateur Public Links
The U.S. Amateur Public Links is one of 13
national championships conducted by the
USGA.
It is designed for players who do not have
playing
privileges at a private club. See USGA
website for
details and complete description of
eligibility
requirements.
View Complete Tournament Information