CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — It was a bad morning to be a co-medalist in the 2023 U.S. Amateur.
Blades Brown, who at 16 became the youngest medalist in U.S. Amateur history, Jackson Buchanan and Sampson Zheng, the top three seeds at Cherry Hills Country Club, lost in their Round of 32 matches Thursday morning.
Brown, who shot 64 on Tuesday at Colorado Golf Club, the stroke-play co-host, led 1 up after seven holes but proceeded to lose three of the next four to Auburn’s Jackson Koivun. Then, Koivun won consecutive holes on Nos. 14 and 15 to end the match, 4 and 3.
Buchanan, a senior at Illinois, fell in a similar fashion, losing 4 and 3 to Cooper Jones, an incoming freshman at BYU. The match was tied walking to the ninth tee, but Jones proceeded to win four straight holes to take command.
U.S. Amateur: Photos from Cherry Hills
Then, the final co-medalist from stroke play, Sampson Zheng of China, lost to Mexico’s Jose Islas, 2 and 1, meaning all three co-medalists and the top three seeds are out after the Round of 32.
Nick Dunlap, who knocked off World No. 1 Gordon Sargent in the Round of 64, topped local Connor Jones on Thursday morning, 4 and 3. He’ll face Bowen Mauss of Draper, Utah next.
After Thursday’s Round of 16, the quarterfinals will be set for Friday. The semifinals will be Saturday with the 36-hole final set for Sunday.
Round of 16 matchups
- No. 32 Jackson Koivun vs. No. 48 Matthew Sutherland, 4 p.m. ET
- No. 57 Bowen Mauss vs. No. 41 Nick Dunlap, 4:10 p.m. ET
- No. 4 Maxwell Ford vs. No. 52 Parker Bell, 4:20 p.m. ET
- No. 28 David Ford vs. No. 12 Ben James, 4:30 p.m. ET
- No. 31 Cooper Jones vs. No. 47 Neal Shipley, 4:40 p.m. ET
- No. 7 Andi Xu vs. No. 42 Connor Gaunt, 4:50 p.m. ET
- No. 30 Jose Islas vs. No. 51 Carson Bacha, 5 p.m. ET
- No. 38 Rui Chang vs. No. 11 John Marshall Butler, 5:10 p.m. ET
Maxwell Ford and Andi Xu are the lone remaining single-digit seeds.
The Round of 16 field
There are 16 golfers left and just three are international players: China’s Andi Xu and Rui Chang and Mexico’s Jose Islas.
