Guthrie’s Morgan reaches match play in U.S. Junior Amateur Championship

Guthrie’s Luke Morgan, who survived a playoff to earn one of the final spots for match play in the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, was eliminated in the first round of match play by one of the nation’s top amateurs.

Morgan fell 4 and 2 to Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest, N.C. Bhatia, one of the top-ranked amateurs in the country, the runnerup in this event in 2018 and the 2018 PGA Junior champion, has already announced he will skip college and turn professional.

Ricky Castillo, William Moll and William Mouw, who shared medalist honors on Tuesday, all advanced Wednesday as well.

All three players completed 36 holes of stroke play at 4-under-par 138, and Moll, of Houston, Texas, drew the No. 1 seed in match play. The 18-year-old won the first two holes against Josh Bartels of Lincoln, Neb., on Wednesday and went on to a 5-and-3 victory. Moll, who is competing in his first USGA championship, hit his approach shot on the par-4 10th hole to 8 feet and drained the putt to kick-start a streak of three straight winning holes that sealed his win.

Morgan, who won the individual Class 5A state championship in May while leading Guthrie to the team title, shot rounds of 77-73 in the stroke play portion Monday and Tuesday to tie for 58th and make the field for match play.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Results from Wednesday’s first round of match play at the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, played at 7,339-yard, par-71 Inverness Club.

Round of 64
(Upper Bracket)

William Moll, Houston, Texas (138) def. Josh Bartels, Lincoln, Neb. (150), 5 and 3

Jacob Sosa, Austin, Texas (147) def. Jackson Van Paris, Pinehurst, N.C. (147), 19 holes

Deven Ramachandran, San Rafael, Calif. (144) def. Tom McKibbin, Northern Ireland (148), 4 and 3

Yuxin Lin, People’s Republic of China (144) def. JT Herman, Hilton Head Island, S.C. (148), 1 up

Bo Jin, People’s Republic of China (141) def. Andi Xu, People’s Republic of China (149), 5 and 4

Jack Wall, Brielle, N.J. (145) def. Ben Brogdon, Little Rock, Ark. (148), 2 and 1

Brian Ma, Milpitas, Calif. (141) def. Gaven Lane, Argyle, Texas (149), 3 and 2

Nathan Han, Somers, N.Y. (145) def. Jack Townsend, San Diego, Calif. (148), 1 up

Luke Potter, Encinitas, Calif. (139) def. Deven Patel, Johns Creek, Ga. (150), 4 and 3

Canon Claycomb, Bowling Green, Ky. (147) def. Zach Jones, Highland, Utah (146), 1 up

Alex Vogelsong, Palm City, Fla. (143) def. Brett Sodetz, Henderson, Nev. (149), 5 and 3

Garrett Martin, San Antonio, Texas (148) def. James Imai, Brookline, Mass. (144), 4 and 3

Michael Thorbjornsen, Wellesley, Mass. (139) def. Phichakson Maichon, Thailand (150), 5 and 4

Palmer Jackson, Murrysville, Pa. (146) def. Gordon Sargent, Birmingham, Ala. (148), 3 and 1

Noah Kumar, Sarasota, Fla. (143) def. Matthew Garside, Bettendorf, Iowa (149), 1 up

Kelly Chinn, Great Falls, Va. (144) def. Jeevan Sihota, Canada (148), 5 and 4

(Lower Bracket)

William Mouw, Chino, Calif. (138) def. Jake Beber-Frankel, Miami, Fla. (150), 6 and 4

Bronson Myers, Columbia, S.C. (147) def. Jack Morris, Franklin, Tenn. (147), 2 and 1

George Duangmanee, Fairfax, Va. (143) def. Kevin Sze, Saratoga, Calif. (149), 21 holes

Joshua Greer, Australia (148) def. August Meekhof, Eastmanville, Mich. (144), 2 and 1

Sean Curran, New Lenox, Ill. (150) def. Brett Roberts, Coral Springs, Fla. (141), 2 and 1

Maxwell Moldovan, Uniontown, Ohio (146) def. Cade Breitenstine, Akron, Ohio (148), 3 and 2

Yuki Moriyama, Japan (149) def. Karl Vilips, Australia (142), 4 and 2

Joseph Pagdin, England (145) def. Holden Wisener, Dallas, Texas (148), 4 and 3

Ricky Castillo, Yorba Linda, Calif. (138) def. Drew Salyers, Howard, Ohio (150), 1 up

Kento Yamawaki, Japan (146) def. James Song, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (147), 5 and 4

Thomas Ponder, Dothan, Ala. (149) def. Elvis Smylie, Australia (143), 3 and 2

Austin Greaser, Vandalia, Ohio (144) def. Connor McKinney, Scotland (148), 2 up

Akshay Bhatia, Wake Forest, N.C. (141) def. Luke Morgan, Guthrie, Okla. (150), 4 and 2

Minwook Gwon, Republic of Korea (146) def. Matthew Sutherland, Sacramento, Calif (148), 6 and 5

Preston Summerhays, Scottsdale, Ariz. (142) def. Takafumi Shimoji, Japan (149), 4 and 2

Thomas Morrison, Dallas, Texas (144) def. Michael Brennan, Leesburg, Va. (148), 20 holes