Parker, Colorado, United States: China golfers continued to flex their muscles as the match play phase of the 123rd US Amateur Championship got under way at historic Cherry Hills Country Club.
A clear indication of the rise of Chinese players as a major force in the game was illustrated by the fact that of the 12 countries represented in the match play bracket at the US Amateur, China was second only to the United States in terms of the number of players who qualified from stroke play.
While 50 of the 64 qualifiers were American, China had four players make it through. No other country had more than one – Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden all with a solitary qualifier.
Three of the four China players to progress from the 36-hole stroke play segment at the start of the week also made it through the Round of 64, the only exception being Ding Wenyi, the 2022 US Junior Amateur champion.
Sampson Zheng, who won co-medallist honours, edged past 2019 US Junior Amateur champion Preston Summerhays one-up, making a par to Summerhays’ bogey on 18.
Joining him in the Round of 32 are compatriots Chang Rui and Andi Xu.
Chang won the opening hole but lost the second and third to American Caden Fioroni. He tied up the match at the fifth and was never again behind, closing out a 2&1 victory with a birdie at the long 17th. Chang’s play on the par-fives was crucial, winning all three with birdies.
Xu, two-down through six against Northern Irishman Matthew McClean, fought back to all square after 10 and went ahead at 11, the first time he’d been in front since the opening hole.
Two-up with two to play, Xu’s advantage was halved at 17 where his opponent made an eagle-three. But the Chinese, tied fourth in stroke play, held his nerve with a par on 18 to win one-up.
Although 22-year-old Zheng, a rising senior at the University of California who captured the US Amateur Four-Ball title with college team-mate Aaron Du in May, was never behind against Summerhays, he was pushed all the way.
On four occasions on the front nine, Zheng was ahead, but each time Summerhays hit back instantly. All square through 10, the duo halved the next seven holes before Zheng sealed the deal on 18.
In the Round of 32, Zheng faces Mexican Jose Islas, while Xu takes on American Cole Anderson and Chang is up against Caleb Surratt, also of America.
Surratt was beaten by Ding in the final of last year’s US Junior Amateur. Against Neal Shipley at Cherry Hills, Ding was never in front. With the contest all square with two holes remaining, it was American Shipley who seized the initiative with a birdie at 17. He held on to triumph one-up.
The only other Asia-Pacific player to make it to match play was Australian Karl Vilips, who trailed from the 10th hole against Jackson Buchanan, eventually falling two-down. Buchanan was co-medallist in stroke play along with Zheng and 16-year-old Blades Brown, a high school sophomore, who is also into the last 32.
In the most eagerly-anticipated match in the Round of 64, Nick Dunlap, the 2021 US Junior Amateur champion and world number nine, continued his hot summer, playing five-under-par golf to outlast world number one Gordon Sargent, 2&1.
Thursday is a two-round day, with the Round of 32 starting at 8 am local time and the Round of 16 following at 2 pm. The quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday, with the semi-finals on Saturday and the 36-hole final on Sunday.