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The Quarterfinals of the 116th U.S. Amateur are set
Dylan Meyer watches putt during Round of 16 <br>(USGA Photo)
Dylan Meyer watches putt during Round of 16
(USGA Photo)

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI (August 18, 2016) -- In what was maybe the match of the week thus far at the U.S. Amateur, No. 33 Dylan Meyer took down No. 17 Sam Horsfield in 19 holes. It was the second time in two weeks that Meyer defeated Horsfield in match play after beating him in the Western Amateur final.

Meyer, a junior at Illinois, took a 1 up lead on the 6th hole at Oakland Hills Country Club and held the lead all the way until the par-3 17th hole when Horsfield squared the match. With the match now all-square, Horsfield appeared to be in a position to win the match until Meyer rolled in a 10-foot par, saving putt that sent the match to extra holes.

“It was pretty stressful,” said Meyer of his match saving putt on the 18th. “I knew that there was a lot of heat on it, and I knew that I had to make it to extend the match. As coach (Mike Small, head coach at Illinois) 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. You have to be clutch, and it's how you respond.”

Back on the par-4 opening hole, both players found the fairway off the tee. Meyer found the green on his second shot, while Horsfield went long over the green and after a well executed chip, he had a look at par.

Before Horsfield could putt out, Meyer had a long birdie putt for the win that came up short. After the putt was conceded Horsfield had a short putt to extend the match that would end up sliding by, a startling conclusion to a well played match.

“I'm a lot tougher than what I give myself credit for,” Meyer said. “In these situations, it's one of those things that you dream of. Growing up, you watched Tiger (Woods) playing in majors and you watched all these guys make all these clutch putts, and you're like, wow, I want to be able to do that. Can I do that? And, just that putt (today I really showed that I can do these things.”

With the win, Meyer moves onto the quarterfinals and continues his quest to become the 12th player to win the Western Amateur and U.S Amateur in the same year. He would join the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and the last to do it Danny Lee.

One of the more unlikely wins of the Round of 16 came from the hometown kid, No. 41 Nick Carlson as he rallied late to defeat Cal's KK Limbhasut, the eight-seed. Carlson out of the University of Michigan. led 3 up after three holes only to see Limbhasut storm back and take a 1 up lead on the 13th. Carlson would square the match on the next hole, but once more Limbhasut took the lead on the 15th.

The emotional Carlson still trailed with one hole remaining, however once AmateurGolf.com member Limbhasut slipped up with a double-bogey the match was squared and headed to extra holes.

Similar to the Meyer-Horsfield match one playoff hole was enough as Carlson poured in a lengthy birdie putt to take the match in 19 holes. Once the putt dropped, Carlson gave out an emphatic yell worthy of a player heading to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals in his home state.

“It was unreal,” Carlson said. “I can't even describe it. There were so many people on this last hole. I was feeding off them on 18. My caddie told me to slow down and breathe on No.1 tee (of the playoff). Luckily enough we did, and I didn't really realize how amazing it was to have this big of a crowd until that last putt went in. Just to look out and see people three-deep all around the green, it was pretty special."

ROUND OF 32 RECAP

The cinderella story that is No. 61, Sahith Theegala of Pepperdine continued as he bested No. 20 Joaquin Niemann 3&1. In a seesaw match Theegala rolled in some long putts when he needed them most. Theegala led 3 up after eight holes only to have Niemann, the two-time defending IMG Junior World champion, win three straight holes and tie the match. Following a pair of halves, Theegala won three of the next four holes to pull away late.

The highest remaining seed according to number is No. 62 David Boote. However, Boote is a well accomplished player for Stanford, that won the 2015 Welsh Amateur title. Boote advanced with a 2&1 victory over Collin Morikawa, an AmateruGolf.com member and Cal golfer. The match was all-square through four holes but wins on three of the next four gave Boote a 3 up lead.

Morikawa did battle back to draw within 1 down after a 12th hole win, but Boote was too much as he won the 14th to create the separation he needed.

There were a pair of close matches that concluded the Round of 16. LSU's Luis Gagne advanced as he defeated No. 26 Jimmy Stanger of Virginia. Gagne won the 16th and 17th holes to win 3&1.

The other nip and tuck match went extra holes and it was Oklahoma's Brad Dalke surviving in 19 holes against No. 22 Bryan Baumgarten of Illinois. Dalke, the 38-seed, led heading into the last hole but bogeyed the hole allowing Baumgarten to extend the match. The Sooner sophomore would not be fazed by the slip up and his par on the first playoff hole punched his ticket to Friday.

In the first Round of 16 match to conclude No. 31 Jonah Texeira blitzed No. 50 Kyler Dunkle 6&5. Texeira of USC sprinted out to a 5 up lead through seven holes and never looked back as he wrapped things up on the 12th hole.

No. 28 Curtis Luck of Australia was also a big winner beating No. 44 Cameron Young of Wake Forest 6&4. Luck took the lead on the 6th hole with a birdie and played relentless golf the rest of the way with wins on five of the next eight holes.

QUARTERFINAL MATCHES

*By qualifying for the quarterfinals all eight players are exempt from 2017 U.S. Amateur qualifying. Next years tournament will be played at Riviera Country Club

-No. 33 Dylan Meyer vs. No. 41 Nick Carlson
-No. 61 Sahith Theegala vs. No. 28 Curtis Luck
-No. 31 Jonah Texeira vs. No. 10 Luis Gagne
-No. 62 David Boote vs. No. 38 Brad Dalke

-The USGA contributed to this story

Results: US Amateur
WinAustraliaCurtis LuckAustralia2000
Runner-upTXBrad DalkeMcKinney, TX1500
SemifinalsMINick CarlsonHamilton, MI1000
SemifinalsCAJonah TexeiraPorter Ranch, CA1000
QuarterfinalsINDylan MeyerEvansville, IN700

View full results for US Amateur

ABOUT THE US Amateur

The U.S. Amateur, the oldest USGA championship, was first played in 1895 at Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island. The event, which has no age restriction, is open to those with a Handicap Index of .4 (point four) or lower. It is one of 15 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. A new two-stage qualifying process went into effect in 2024, providing exemptions through local qualifying for state amateur champions and top-ranked WAGR playres. See the USGA website for details -- applications are typically placed online in the spring at www.usga.org.

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