Quartet of lefties advance to Round of 16 at U.S. Junior Amateur, including Miles Russell
Miles Russell, Luke Colton, Tyler Watts and Sohan Patel advanced Thursday morning into the round of 16, which takes place Thursday afternoon at Trinity Forest in Dallas, Texas. Russell and Colton, the two top-ranked juniors in the world, could face off Friday morning if they were to win their Round of 16 matches. Meanwhile, Watts and Patel could do the same.
If that were to happen, the final Saturday would be guaranteed to have a lefty, as all four players are on the top half of the match-play bracket.
Colton made quick work of Shiv Parmar on Thursday morning in the Round of 32, winning 6 and 5. Russell, after coming back from 2 down with three to play Wednesday and winning in 20 holes, had a comfy 3-and-2 victory to advance. Colton faces Chase Bauer on Thursday afternoon while Russell takes on Miguel Garcia, the lone player from Mexico left in the field.
For Russell, ranked 18th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, a strong finish this week could help make the case he should be on the U.S. Walker Cup team in two months at Cypress Point Club. Meanwhile, if Colton were to win, he would throw his name in the hat for consideration on captain Nathan Smith's team.
Watts, the defending runner-up at the U.S. Junior, won his match 1 up against Colombia's Tomas Restrepo. Patel topped Max Emberson 2 and 1 to advance.
In the afternoon, Watts, a Tennessee commit, faces Georgia commit Hamilton Coleman. Patel will take on 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion Tyler Mawhinney.
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USA Today
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- USA Today
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