Sides reaches match play at Western Amateur
DAYTON, Ohio – Will Sides of Tulsa shot a 65 in the fourth round to finish tied for eighth after 72 holes of stroke play and move into the final 16 for match play in the Western Amateur at Moraine Country Club.
Sides, a junior at Southern Methodist, was playing Jackson Herrington in match play Friday. Live scoring is here.
Sides shot rounds of 71-70-70 and then the 6-under 65 in the final round. He is the only one of 11 players with Oklahoma ties in the field to reach match play.
Live coverage of the Sweet 16 matches will stream live from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Coverage will resume from 3-6 p.m. ET for the finish of the quarterfinal matches. ESPN+ subscribers in the United States, Canada (TSN+), the Caribbean and Latin America (on Disney+) can tune in on the ESPN App, ESPN.com and connected TV devices.
Despite the suspension of play due to weather late Thurday, seven players have punched their ticket to the famed Western Amateur Sweet 16.
BYU redshirt junior Tyson Shelley holds the clubhouse lead at 13-under 271, carding rounds of 64 and 71 over 36 holes on Thursday. Shelley’s 64 was the low round of the day on the 7,306-yard, par-71 layout. This will be Shelley’s first Sweet 16 appearance.
Joining Shelley is 16-year-old Henry Guan, who becomes the third-youngest player to make match play. The Irving, Texas, native finished at 12-under 272 with rounds of 68-69-68-67.
Tennessee freshman Jackson Herrington finished at 9-under. Among those finishing at 8-under total were Wright State graduate Mikkel Mathiesen, who becomes the first player to advance to the Sweet 16 after earning a spot in the Western Amateur field through the Sunday qualifier since it resumed in 2021.
Mathiesen is joined by Oregon graduate Gregory Solhaug, Florida sophomore Jack Turner and Sides at 8-under.
Eighteen players were in the clubhouse at 6-under or better when play was suspended.
Among those yet to complete their fourth round are Florida junior Ian Gilligan at 12-under through 15 holes and Virginia junior Benjamin James at 11-under through 15. South Florida senior Jake Peacock sits at 9-under through 17 while Arizona junior Zachery Pollo is at 8-under through 16.
First played at Glen View Club in 1899, the Western Amateur is the world’s third-oldest amateur championship, behind only the British Amateur (1885) and the U.S. Amateur (1895). It regularly attracts the top players from across the country and around the world, with past champions like Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
A grueling combination of stroke play and match play makes the Western Amateur one of the most demanding events in golf. The field of 156 players compete in 72 holes of stroke play over three days to determine the Sweet 16 for match play.