Wisconsin, United States: James Leow’s brilliant run at the 41st US Mid-Amateur Championship has come to an end in the Round of 16.

The 25-year-old Singaporean saw his string of consecutive holes without a loss end on his 25th hole of the championship when he double-bogeyed the par-four second at Erin Hills.

He went on to lose 4-and-3 to American Scott Turner and will now turn his full attention to Stage 1 of Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School in Arizona next week.

Meanwhile, it seems appropriate that a pair of Irishmen have advanced to the semi-finals at Erin Hills. Erin is the poetic name for Ireland in Gaelic, and the 16-year-old course’s logo is a three-leaf clover. Cottages on the property are named for iconic Irish venues such as Ballybunion and Lahinch, and the pub has an Irish theme.

While the layout might not remind anyone of the historic links courses in Ireland, Hugh Foley, 25, and Matthew McClean, 29, have found the surroundings to their liking.

And on a glorious Thursday – temperatures in the 70s with breezes in the 10 to 20-miles-per-hour range – the two Irishmen advanced to the semi-finals in their first-ever appearance in this championship.

Foley, of Dublin, runner-up in last month’s Irish Amateur, eliminated 2022 US Amateur Four-Ball champion Chad Wilfong, 2-up, and McClean, a Belfast native who represented Ireland in the World Amateur Team Championship in France two weeks ago, knocked out Turner, 2 and 1.

They are joined in the final four by Americans Bryce Hanstad and Josh Persons. Interestingly, Hanstad was born in Fargo before his family moved to Minnesota when he was a toddler.

Person eliminated a pair of US Mid-Amateur champions on Thursday: defending and two-time champion Stewart Hagestad in the Round of 16, then 2014 titlist Scott Harvey in 21 holes.

Foley and McClean are on opposite ends of the draw, so there’s a chance these good friends could face each other in the 36-hole final. A victory by either one would give the US Mid-Amateur its second international champion after Australian Lukas Michel in 2019 at Colorado Golf Club.

The champion receives a spot in next year’s US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club and a likely invitation into April’s Masters Tournament.

“We're getting looked after so well,” said Foley, who this summer became the first player since Darren Clarke in 1990 to win both the North of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open (Royal Portrush) and South of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open (Lahinch) in the same year. “There's a lot of Irish contingent out here who are looking after us, which is super. We’re having a great time, such a great time.”

Added McClean: “I’ve spent a good bit of money in the pro shop already, with the shamrock [logo] and all that [merchandise]. It would be unbelievable [to win], really.”

Three times against Wilfong, a former Wake Forest golfer who played briefly on the Korn Ferry Tour before getting his amateur status back in 2016, Foley trailed by a hole before winning three consecutive holes from number 12 to take a 2-up lead.

Foley went to the par-five 18th with a 1-up advantage, and Wilfong eventually conceded the hole when he failed to get up and down for bogey after twice going over the green with pitch shots.

McClean, who is an optometrist, broke open a tie match against Turner, the owner and operator of the Minor League Golf Tour in Florida, with consecutive birdies on 11 and 12 to grab a 2-up advantage. The players tied the next five holes.

Hanstad, playing in his second US Mid-Amateur, built a 3-up lead through four holes against Andrew Paysse, brother-in-law of world number one Scottie Scheffler, only to see it evaporate by the turn.

Paysse took a 1-up lead with a par on the 176-yard 16th hole, but Hanstad hit a nice 7-iron approach on 17 to set up a winning two-putt par after Paysse found the fescue.

Two bogeys on 18 sent the match to extra holes, where Paysse hit his tee shot into the penalty area, leading to a double-bogey six. Hanstad, a consumer data analyst for OptumRx, played conservatively for a bogey that allowed him to advance.

“It'll be a fun day tomorrow,” said Hanstad, who eliminated Ryan Greer, 5 and 4, earlier on Thursday.

Persons had a chance to end his match against 44-year-old Harvey on 18, but missed a short par putt. Three holes later, he stuffed his 7-iron approach from 179 yards to 18 inches for a conceded birdie. Harvey failed to convert from 25 feet after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.

Hagestad’s bid for a second consecutive title came to a halt when the 31-year-old Southern Californian lipped out a six-footer on 18 to fall, 1 down, to Persons. The defeat stung the number eight player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as he was hoping for a deep run to bolster his chances of making a fourth consecutive USA Walker Cup Team in 2023.

Had he won this week, Hagestad, who begins a new job with Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners on October 3, would have teed it up in next year’s US Open at his home course, where he was a member of the victorious 2017 USA Walker Cup Team.

McClean’s 20-hole victory in the Round of 16 on Thursday morning over 2014 runner-up Brad Nurski, featured a pair of unlikely loss-of-hole penalties by each competitor. After leaving the 10th tee, McClean’s caddie accepted a cart ride from a volunteer, which incurs a loss-of-hole penalty.

Then on the par-four 14th hole, Nurski hit a wrong ball, a violation of Rule 6.3. The long-hitting left-hander managed to tie the match with winning pars on 17 and 18 to force extra holes, where McClean won with a par on the 358-yard 20th hole (number two at Erin Hills).