Moore and Xie Set for All New Zealand Quarter-Final Clash
Pennsylvania, United States: New Zealand is guaranteed a place in the semi-finals at the 78th US Junior Amateur with Cooper Moore and Ryan Xie set to square-off in an all-Kiwi last eight clash.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States: New Zealand is guaranteed a place in the semi-finals at the 78th US Junior Amateur with Cooper Moore and Ryan Xie set to square-off in an all-Kiwi last eight clash.
Moore and Xie both won twice on Thursday to progress to the quarter-finals, the only two non-Americans to make it this far at Saucon Valley Country Club.
According to Moore, his fellow 18-year-old compatriot owns a 2-1 advantage from three previous match play contests, all in New Zealand.
Moore, winner of last year’s Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Boys’ title, said: “It’ll be good fun. We’ve had good battles over the last few years, so it’ll be nice to have one more before Ryan goes to college.”
At the start of the week, Moore was 274th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). At 813th, Xie is the second lowest ranked player among the final eight.
In the Round of 32 on Thursday morning, Xie and Moore both eliminated Koreans. Xie defeated Yu Min-hyeok 2&1 while Moore enjoyed a 4&3 triumph over Kang Geon.
In the afternoon Round of 16 session, Xie proved too strong for Singaporean Troy Storm, 4&3, with Moore producing a gutsy late charge to overcome Canadian Dawson Lew, one-up.
In the Round of 32, Storm subdued Hudson Justus 6&5 with China’s Chang Xihuan suffering a 4&3 reversal at the hands of Dylan Boenning.
Xie, who is headed to Santa Clara University this fall, said: “I think mentally I’ve been a lot better being able to control my emotions on the course, reacting to bad breaks and all that.”
As well as finishing runner-up at the 2026 Australian Boys’ Amateur, Xie’s other career highlights to date include top-10s at the 2025 North Shore Classic, 2024 Jack Newton International Junior Classic, 2024 New Zealand Under-19 Championship and 2023 Auckland Provincial Match Play Championship.
For his part, Moore is a member of the Golf NZ National Academy. His standout feats include a top-10 finish at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan, and victories in last year’s New Zealand Stroke Play Championship, Australian Boys’ Amateur and South Island Under-19 Championship.
Outside of an opening birdie in his Round of 16 match with Lew, Moore trailed or was tied virtually the entire way. Having drawn level at the 16th, Moore sealed his quarter-final ticket with a birdie on 18.
Friday’s quarter-final matches will commence at 8 am (local time) and go in 15-minute intervals. The semi-finals are scheduled for 2 pm and 2:12 pm. The 36-hole championship match on Saturday is scheduled to begin at 8 am and continue after the lunch break. Golfchannel.com will stream the semi-finals and the championship match.
