AURORA -- A fan-friendly match-play bracket took shape Tuesday at the first U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship held in Colorado since 1993.
All four Coloradans in the 156-man field finished among the top 64 in stroke play, meaning they’ll advance to the match play portion of the event, which starts Wednesday.
And the top-ranked amateur player in the world, Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State, cruised through stroke play with the second-best total (67-66--133). On both Monday and Tuesday, he holed out approach shots for eagles on par-4s. On Tuesday, he drained a 116-yard shot with a wedge on No. 10.
“One a round -- that’s not too bad,” said Fowler. “It’s a nice little 2, and you don’t have to putt.”
Aaron Goldberg of Carlsbad, Calif., a former San Diego State golfer, earned medalist honors at 10-under-par 132 (65-67) and will be the top seed. Goldberg was a U.S. Publinks quarterfinalist last year. He’ll play the first match today, at 8 a.m., against Canadian Brady Johnson (75-72--147), who survived a 10-man playoff for the final spot into match play.
Also moving on is Florida golfer Billy Horschel, like Fowler a 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team member. The two are on opposite sides of the bracket and could meet in Saturday’s 36-hole final.
“We were talking earlier this week about (possibly) being in the finals together,” said Horschel, the No. 33-ranked amateur in the world. “I call him my little brother.”
But the Colorado contingent would like nothing better than to upset that apple cart. Moving on to match play are brothers Pat and Jim Grady of Broomfield, Zach Zaremba of Pueblo West and Riley Arp of Fort Collins. Zaremba, a University of Wyoming golfer, will be seeded third after rounds of 66-69. Arp (73-67) is seeded 16th, Pat Grady (72-71) 30th and Jim Grady (77-68) 49th.
The success of the Coloradans “is wonderful,“ said Zaremba, who earned a match play spot for the first time in his three USGA tournaments. “We are representing Colorado well.”
In fact, Jim Grady will face Arp in a first-round match Wednesday, at 8:18 a.m. Pat Grady will take on Brandon Berry of Lagrange, Ky., at 11:45 a.m. Zaremba squares off with another Zach, Zach Sebert of Grove City, Ohio, at 11:36 a.m.
The Grady brothers are competing in a USGA championship together for the first time.
“That’s awesome, especially with the tournament being in our home state,” Pat said of both he and his brother surviving the stroke-play portion of the event.
This is Pat’s second USGA championship, but the first time he’s advanced to match play. Jim is competing in his first USGA tournament.
Back-to-back four-putts in Jim Grady’s round of 77 led to some changes for Tuesday, with Jim “borrowing” a putter from Pat’s collection.
“(Monday), I was pushing and pulling everything, so I needed a heavier putter,” said Jim Grady. “It worked well. Switching putters gave me a lot of confidence inside of 8 feet.”
The result was a 4-under-par front nine Tuesday in which he drained four birdie putts of 12 feet or under.
After his 77 Monday, Jim was upset enough that he couldn’t sleep. So he went for a 6-mile run in Broomfield at about midnight.
“It’s one thing to play bad (and score poorly), but to score bad when you’re playing well …,“ said Jim Grady, who plans to become a student assistant coach for the University of Colorado men’s golf team this coming season.
Jim Grady‘s opponent Wednesday, Arp, said he “slopped it around“ Monday and Tuesday, but is happy to still be playing on Day 3.
“(Match play) was my goal coming in,” the 20-year-old Colorado State golfer said. “After that it becomes a completely different tournament. I think like anyone here, you want to accomplish something and win. That’s why we play these events.”
Pat Grady, the 2007 state amateur of the year, had to battle to secure his match-play spot. He hit only eight greens in regulation all day Tuesday, but still managed to shoot even par. Tall, thick rough took its toll when he hit slightly errant tee shots, but good chipping and putting saved the day.
“That’s the most I’ve grinded my entire life,” the CU golfer said. “The course is so tough. “I’m mentally exhausted.”
