Jordie Garner faces a sleepless night to see if he will progress to the matchplay section of the US Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Golf Resort.
Garner carded a two-over-par 72 on the No.2 course at the fabled resort and sits in a tie for 67th place; right on the predicted cutline at five over.
On a day disrupted by storms, it looked like Garner’s maiden US Amateur was going to come to an early finish, with the teenager a couple of shots on the wrong side of the predicted cut.
A withering finishing burst of two birdies in his last four holes, however, saw the central coast tyro leapfrog his way into the mix for the knockout stages.
The teen sensation had a chance to advance into the matchplay phase outright with a makeable birdie putt on his final hole. Sadly, he was unable to convert his good work with the putt just slipping past on the low side.
“It was still a nice finish, ” Garner said post-round. “It was stressful for sure.”
“It’s going to be a nerve-wracking night.”
Garner will be one of no less than 25 other competitors who won’t be getting much sleep tonight. With about 1/3 of the field still to complete their rounds when play was abandoned for the evening, it will mean an early start before the first round of the matchplay gets underway.
Garner is expecting a playoff will be needed to determine the last spots, and he is ready to give it his usual 110%.
“I’ll be ready to go, that’s for sure.
“I just want a shot at it to get in,” he added.
WINDRED SET FOR KNOCKOUT PHASE
Earlier, Blake Windred ensured top Aussie honours with a second-round 74 on the challenging Pinehurst 2 course to go with his opening 67.
“This is the most demanding course I have come across, ” Windred said. ” It’s absolutely brutal.”
It’s the second time the Novocastrian has qualified for the Matchplay phase, and he will be looking to go a lot better than his first-round exit in 2018.
Windred knows it all begins again in the matchplay rounds and is well prepared for the challenge.
“I’m pretty happy wi my two days work. I’ve been hitting it mint.
“It’s a new tournament now,” he added
Notable Scores:
T11: Blake Windred 67 – 74 = 141
T18: Karl Vilips 77 – 65 = 142
T46: Jack Trent 68 -76 = 144
T67: Jordie Garner 73 – 72 = 145
T92: David Micheluzzi 75 (+1 thru 15)
T136: JOsh Armstrong 76 – 73 = 149
Full leaderboard is HERE
