Fox-Inspired Moore Prevails in 22-Hole Marathon
Pennsylvania, United States: Inspired by the deeds of fellow-New Zealander Ryan Fox, 18-year-old Cooper Moore dug deep to progress at the 78th US Junior Amateur.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States: Inspired by the deeds of fellow-New Zealander Ryan Fox, 18-year-old Cooper Moore dug deep to progress at the 78th US Junior Amateur.
Like Fox en route to winning The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on Sunday, Cooper kept his composure under pressure at Saucon Valley Country Club, outlasting American Landon Ashcraft at the 22nd hole in the longest match in the Round of 64.
In an intriguing contest, Moore trailed by one hole after 17 but won the 18th with a par to force extra-time. The duo halved the first three play-off holes before Moore prevailed with a par at the 153-yard fourth hole.
“A lot of water, a bit of food. Just walking down the fairways, having fun, laughing and keeping things casual,” said Moore on how he maintained his calm and energy over the course of 22 holes.
Winner of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Boys’ championship last year in Hong Kong, Moore’s next assignment at Saucon Valley is a Round of 32 clash with Korean Kang Geon.
They are among six Asia-Pacific players who have made it through to the last 32, along with Korean Yu Min-hyeok, New Zealand’s Ryan Xie, China’s Chang Xihuan and Singaporean Troy Storm.
Kang defeated Giuseppe Puebla, two-up, while Yu overcame John Markow, 3&2, Chang edged Bodie Brumlow, one-up, and Storm surged to a 3&2 success against Vaclav Svub. Xie enjoyed a 4&3 win against China’s Jin Han.
Hong Kong, China native William Lisle and China’s Hou Zenghao both exited after narrow losses.
Lilse lost at the 19th hole to Canadian Dawson Lew, while Hou endured a one-down defeat to American Kuan Zhou.
In the Round of 32, Xie faces Korean Yu, while Storm takes on 14-year-old Hudson Justus and Chang squares off with Washington State rising sophomore Dylan Boenning.
At the start of Wednesday, the 14-for-two play-off for the last spots in the match play draw lasted two holes and 67 minutes.
Americans Eli Wessel and Hudson Kutchma each made threes on the par-three fifth hole of the Grace Course to advance. China’s Gao Zilin was the odd man out with a bogey. Among those eliminated at the first play-off hole were Japan’s Kanichiro Katano and American Charlie Woods, the son of 15-time Major champion and three-time US Junior winner Tiger Woods.
Two match play rounds are scheduled for Thursday with the Rounds of 32 and 16. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be contested on Friday, with the 36-hole championship match on Saturday. Golfchannel.com will stream the semi-finals and the championship match.
