Ben James (USGA Photo)

The U.S. Amateur field was reduced from 312 players to 64 for the match play portion. The cutline fell at even par, and a 14-for-11 playoff taking place early Wednesday morning.

Here are five takeaways from the 36-hole stroke play portion.

Jimmy Ellis makes history

Jimmy Ellis shot 8-under in the final round to win the Florida Amateur, and now he shot 9-under 61 in the second round at Chaska Town Club of the U.S. Amateur to earn medalist honors and the No. 1 seed in match play. He recorded ten birdies and one bogey in the second round, missing the course record by one shot, which was set by Billy Horschel at the 2006 U.S. Amateur.

He is the first mid-amateur to win medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur in 11 years. He played his collegiate golf at Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio University. 

Gordon Sargent bounces back

As most golfers posted a better score at Chaska Town Club over Hazeltine, The No. 2 ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, Gordon Sargent, shot 2-over 72 in the first round at Chaska, but a 3-under 67 at Hazeltine to make the cut at 1-under. Sargent is known for his length off the tee, and the 800-yard difference between Chaska and Hazeltine played into Sargent's strength better.

He finished at 1-under and T32.

United States Walker Cuppers make match play

Of the ten golfers who played in the 2023 Walker Cup for the winning United States team, five of them are in the field this week. Ben James, Gordon Sargent, David Ford, Preston Summerhays and Stewart Hagestad. Nick Dunlap, Caleb Surratt, Nick Gabrelcik, Dylan Menante, and Austin Greaser have all since turned pro and are ineligible. 

Four of the five players made the cut, with Hagestad the only one missing. All four finished stroke play in the top 32, and three finished in the top 12. Summerhays and James finished T12 at 4-under, and Ford finished T3 at 6-under.

Luke Clanton survives marathon to make match play

Florida State rising junior has played a lot of golf over the last three days, but he has been consistently playing well. Clanton played 39 holes on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship and finished in solo fifth place, then flew to Minnesota to play 36 holes of stroke play from Monday to Tuesday, finishing 3-under and T19.

Notable players miss the cut

Some of the top names in the 2024 amateur golf landscape missed the cut. U.S. National Junior Team members Blades Brown, Miles Russell, Tyler Watts (2024 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up) and Michael Riebe missed the cut, along with plus unanimous college player of the year Jackson Koivun.

Also, 2024 Western Amateur champ Ian Gilligan, 2021 Latin America Amateur champion Aaron Jarvis, 2024 NCAA Division I individual champion Hiroshi Tai, and Godfrey Nsubuga, the first player from Uganda to ever play in a USGA championship.