Niall Shiels Donegan, backed by vocal gallery, advances to U.S. Amateur semifinals
SAN FRANCISCO — Niall Shiels Donegan, the Scot who grew up in nearby Mill Valley, advanced to the U.S. Amateur semifinals Friday at The Olympic Club to the delight of his large, vocal gallery.
Donegan — set for his first season at North Carolina after two years at Northwestern — outlasted Notre Dame junior Jacob Modleski with a par on the 19th hole in windy conditions. Donegan pulled even with a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th.
Donegan will face rising Tennessee sophomore Jackson Herrington, a 4-and-2 winner over Jimmy Abdo of Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota.
Herrington and Donegan were among the 17 players who advanced from a 20-man playoff Wednesday morning to determine the final 64 for match play. Donegan's father, Lawrence, was a longtime golf correspondent for The Guardian.
In the other semifinal, Georgia teen Mason Howell will face Oklahoma State junior Eric Lee. They each won their matches, 1 up, with the 18-year-old Howell beating John Daly II, and Lee edging 16-year-old Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
Howell qualified for the U.S. Open this year with rounds of 63-63 from the Atlanta sectional. Daly, a senior-to-be at Arkansas, is the son of two-time major champion John Daly.
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