Cherry Hills Village, CO (Sports Network) - Justin Thomas earned a 2-up win on
Friday to advance to the semifinals of the 112th U.S. Amateur Championship.
Thomas, who knocked out his college teammate and stroke-play medalist Bobby
Wyatt on Thursday, beat Oliver Goss, 2-up, in the quarterfinals.
Goss was 2-up after four holes, but Thomas won the seventh and eighth with
pars to square the match. They traded wins at nine and 10 before Thomas took
the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 11th at Cherry Hills Country
Club.
Thomas, the SEC Player and Freshman of the Year, also birdied the 12th to go
2-up. Thomas made a mess of the 17th as his lead dipped to 1-up, but he made
par at the 18th to close out the 2-up win. He will face Michael Weaver in the
semis.
Weaver never trailed en route to beating Ricardo Gouveia, 4 & 3. Weaver had
seven pars and two birdies on the front nine, and that was enough to give him
a 4-up lead at the turn. Gouveia twice cut his deficit to 3-down, but Weaver
finished him off with a par on the par-3 15th.
Steven Fox and Brandon Hagy picked up easy wins on Friday and will face one
another in the other semifinal match.
Fox ousted Chris Williams, 4 & 2. Fox won three of four holes from third to go
3-up after six holes. He parred the ninth to extend his lead to 4-up.
Williams, a two-time first team All-American, took the 15th to get within 2-
down, but Fox closed out the match with a birdie on the par-4 16th.
After trailing early on, Hagy easily beat Cheng-Tsung Pan, 4 & 3. Pan grabbed
the lead with a birdie on the second and was 2-up after four.
Hagy won the fifth and sixth to square the match, and a birdie on the seventh
gave Hagy a 1-up lead. Hagy took the 10th and 11th to push his lead to 3-up.
Hagy finished off Pan with a birdie on the 15th.
The Sports Network