Georgia’s three participants in the match play portion of the United States Amateur Championship were eliminated on Wednesday.
Lee McCoy, the No. 1 seed after sharing co-medalist honors in stroke play, fell on the 19th hole to Pittsburgh, Pa., native Nathan Smith. Smith, the last player to make the 64-man match play field, is a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and is a three-time Walker Cup Team member.
Playing in his 14th U.S. Amateur, Smith squared the match with a birdie on the water-fronted par-3 17th hole and converted a critical up-and-down for par on the 18th. Smith won in 19 holes by sinking a 3½–foot par-saving putt.
“I saw the list and I saw four-time Mid-Am winner and a guy that's played in the Masters four times, and I was like, ‘I get to play the grizzled veteran in the first round. Fantastic,’” McCoy said. “I don't think he had his best stuff today and neither did I. I didn't play nearly as well as I did the last two days. He made some incredible up-and-downs and he just scored unbelievably well, like a veteran would.”
Cheng-Tsung Pan, a two-time U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist from Chinese Taipei, defeated freshman Zach Healy 4&2. Senior Mookie DeMoss fell to Roman Robledo of Harlingen, Texas, 1-up.
• Five Bulldogs will be playing this week in the Wyndham Championship: Ryuji Imada, Kevin Kisner, Hudson Swafford, Brian Harman and Justin Bolli. The Wyndham Championship, is the Tour's final stop before the start of the FedExCup Playoffs. Swafford is No. 142 and likely needs a top-7 finish this week to make the playoffs, while Imada and Bolli would need to win the tournament. Kisner and Harman are safely in.
• Paul Claxton and Scott Parel will tee it up in the Web.com Tour's News Sentinel Open.
• Bubba Watson finished first in the points race, which closed after the PGA Championship at Valhalla, and will be one of the nine players representing the United States in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. Watson is 3-5 in his previous two Ryder Cup appearances. U.S. captain Tom Watson will select three more captain's picks next month to bring the total to 12. Brendon Todd (12th in points) and Chris Kirk (14th) are in contention.
• Five Bulldogs will be playing this week in the Wyndham Championship: Ryuji Imada, Kevin Kisner, Hudson Swafford, Brian Harman and Justin Bolli. The Wyndham Championship, is the Tour's final stop before the start of the FedExCup Playoffs. Swafford is No. 142 and likely needs a top-7 finish this week to make the playoffs, while Imada and Bolli would need to win the tournament. Kisner and Harman are safely in.
• Paul Claxton and Scott Parel will tee it up in the Web.com Tour's News Sentinel Open.
• Bubba Watson finished first in the points race, which closed after the PGA Championship at Valhalla, and will be one of the nine players representing the United States in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. Watson is 3-5 in his previous two Ryder Cup appearances. U.S. captain Tom Watson will select three more captain's picks next month to bring the total to 12. Brendon Todd (12th in points) and Chris Kirk (14th) are in contention.
