Top-Ranked Amateurs Peck And Grillo Meet In U.S. Junior Amateur Quarterfinals

Shoal Creek, Ala. – Highly-ranked amateurs Cameron Peck, 17, of Olympia, Wash., and 15-year-old Emiliano Grillo of Argentina each won two matches Thursday and will square off in a key quarterfinal match Friday at the U.S. Junior Amateur at Shoal Creek golf course.

Cameron Peck lines up a putt during his second-round victory Thursday. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

Peck, a candidate for Junior Player of the Year in the U.S., squeaked by Boom Sritart of Keller, Texas, in the second round before coming on strong in the afternoon for a big win over Rak Cho of Korea, 7 and 5. Grillo, already the top-ranked amateur in Argentina, had an easier time of it. He scored wins by margins of 4 and 2 over Bryden Macpherson of Australia and 6 and 5 over Robert Galbreath of Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

Play continues Friday with the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of match play. The 36-hole championship final is scheduled for Saturday.

“I played better than yesterday, but I will have to play well again tomorrow,” said Grillo, who will be a high school junior.

At the North Open in Argentina in May, Grillo finished tied for second place with Angel Cabrera, one stroke behind winner Eduardo Romero.

In the same bracket, Andrew Steinhofer, 17, of Madison, Wis., will meet Dom Bozzelli, 17, of Pittsford, N.Y. Steinhofer rallied to edge local favorite Tom Lovelady of Birmingham, 1 up in the third round. Bozzelli reached the quarterfinals with a victory over Gaston De La Torre of Brush Prairie, Wash., 3 and 2.

Fourteen-year-old Jordan Spieth of Dallas, Texas, stole the show in the other bracket.  He needed to play just 28 holes in beating accomplished junior player Julian Suri of St. Augustine, 4 and 3, and David Persons, 8 and 7. He won seven of the first eight holes against Suri and was four under on the first nine holes.

“All of a sudden I was four up and he wasn’t really playing that bad,” said Spieth, who will be a sophomore in high school. “I thought, ‘Wow! Maybe today is my day.’”

He will face Andrew Yin, 17, of Chandler, Ariz., who stopped top-seeded Jorge Fernandez Valdes of Argentina. He ended Fernandez Valdes’ run in the third round. He rallied to win holes 17 and 18, and then made a winning par on the third extra hole.

“I am mentally drained, but I am very excited by coming through when I was down against a great player,” said Yun, who moved to Arizona from Tacoma, Wash., two years ago. “I’ve had to play a lot of good players just to make it this far.”

In another matchup, Evan Beck, 17, of Virginia Beach, Va., will face Ernesto Marin, 17, of Miami, Fla.

Beck beat J.J. Spaun of San Dimas, Calif., to reach the quarterfinals, 3 and 2.  Marin beat T.J. Vogel of Miami, Fla., 4 and 2.

“It was just my day,” said Beck, a sleek 145-pounder who didn’t three-putt in either of his two matches Thursday. “I switched to the claw grip in May and I’ve been putting well ever since.”

All eight quarterfinalists are fully exempt for the 2008 Junior Amateur if they are still age 17 or younger.

The U.S. Junior Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Story written by Craig Smith, USGA Director of Media Relations. E-mail him with questions and comments at csmith@usga.org.

Shoal Creek, Ala. – Results of the first-round matches at the U.S. Junior Amateur at 7,251-yard, par 72, Shoal Creek golf course:

Upper Bracket

Jorge Fernandez Valdes, Argentina (139) def. Cory McElyea, Santa Cruz, Calif. (152), 19 holes

Bobby Wyatt, Mobile, Ala. (149) def. Drew Preston, Ada, Mich. (149), 6 and 5

Andrew Yun, Tacoma, Wash. (150) def. Cameron Wilson, Rowayton, Conn. (146), 1 up

Jeffrey Kang, Fullerton, Calif. (150) def. Michael Sorenson, Hartland, Wis. (146), 3 and 1

Richard Werenski, South Hadley, Mass. (143) def. Nicholas Losole III, Scottsdale, Ariz. (151), 3 and 1

David Persons, El Paso, Texas (150) def. Matthew Ceravolo, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (148), 2 up

Julian Suri, Saint Augustine, Fla. (143) def. Richard Lamb, South Bend, Ind. (151), 5 and 4

Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas (150) def. Ryan Marks, Warrensburg, Mo. (148), 2 and 1

Justin Shin, Canada (142) def. Cody Martin, Union, Ky. (152), 1 up

Evan Beck, Virginia Beach, Va. (148) def. Chris Worrell, Enid, Okla. (149), 4 and 3

Patrick Rodgers, Avon, Ind. (145) def. Parker Clowers, Jacksonville, Fla. (151), 6 and 5

J J Spaun, San Dimas, Calif. (147) def. Landon Tujague, Dallas, Texas (150), 3 and 2

Jordan Gilmore, Sparks, Nev. (152) def. Sam Smith, Turlock, Calif. (142), 1 up

T J Vogel, Miami, Fla. (148) def. Patrick Reed, Augusta, Ga. (149), 4 and 3

Bhavik Pate, Bakersfield, Calif., def. Michael McGowan, Southern Pines, N.C., 22 holes

Ernesto Marin, Miami, Fla. (147) def. Ben Crancer, St. Louis, Mo. (150), 3 and 2

Lower Bracket

Andrew Steinhofer, Madison, Wis. (152) def. Cody Gribble, Dallas, Texas (140), 5 and 4

Adam Sumrall, South Bend, Ind. (149) def. Curtis Donahoe, League City, Texas (149), 4 and 2

Jordan Lee, Tarzana, Calif. (150) def. Wes Strang, Bethesda, Md. (146), 4 and 3

Tom Lovelady, Birmingham, Ala. (147) def. Dashiell Lindsell, Burlingame, Calif. (150), 6 and 5

Dominic Bozzelli, Pittsford, N.Y. (151) def. Cory Whitsett, Houston, Texas (143), 4 and 3

Grant Weaver, Wooster, Ohio (150) def. Jay Vandeventer, Bristol, Tenn. (148), 3 and 2

Martin Trainer, Palo Alto, Calif., def Blaine Woodruff, Acworth, Ga., 1 up

Gaston De La Torre, Brush Prairie, Wash., def. Kevin Penner, Sammamish, Wash., 2 up

Cameron Peck, Olympia, Wash., def. Bobby Lange, Sherman Oaks, Calif., 4 and 3

Boom Sritart, Keller, Texas, def. Jack Perry, Santa Barbara, Calif., 3 and 1

Wilson Day, Raleigh, N.C., def. Justin Kelley, Haiku, Hawaii, 3 and 2

Rak Cho, Korea, def. Simon St. Louis, Canada, 3 and 2

Phillip Choi, Orlando, Fla., def Brett Komoto, Honolulu, Hawaii, 3 and 1

Robert Galbreath, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., def. Seth Reeves, Duluth, Ga., 5 and 4

Bryden Macpherson, Australia, def. Taylor Travis, Fremont, Calif., 1 up

Emiliano Grillo, Argentina, def. Tyler Klava, Pace, Fla., 6 and 4

Shoal Creek, Ala. – Results of Thursday’s second round matches:

Upper Bracket

Fernandez Valdes def. Wyatt, 3 and 2

Yun def. Kang, 3 and 2

Persons def. Werenski, 1 up

Spieth def. Suri, 4 and 3

Beck def. Shin, 1 up

Spaun def. Rodgers, 22 holes

Vogel def. Gilmore, 4 and 3

Marin def. Pate, 4 and 2

Lower Bracket

Steinhofer def. Sumrall, 3 and 2

Lovelady def. Lee, 2 up

Bozzelli def. Weaver, 4 and 3

De La Torre def. Trainer, 5 and 4

Peck def. Sritart, 1 up

Cho def. Day, 7 and 6

Galbreath def. Choi, 3 and 1

Grillo def. Macpherson, 4 and 2

Third Round

Upper Bracket

Yun def. Fernandez Valdes, 21 holes

Spieth def. Persons, 8 and 7

Beck def. Spaun, 3 and 2

Marin def. Vogel, 4 and 2

Lower Bracket

Steinhofer def. Lovelady, 1 up

Bozzelli def. De La Torre, 3 and 2

Peck def. Cho, 7 and 5

Grillo def. Galbreath, 6 and 5

Shoal Creek, Ala. – Pairings for Friday’s quarterfinal matches at the U.S. Junior Amateur at 7,251-yard, par 72, Shoal Creek golf course (Times are CDT):

8:00 a.m. – Yun vs. Spieth

8:10 a.m. – Beck vs. Marin

8:20 a.m. – Steinhofer vs. Bozzelli

8:30 a.m. – Peck vs. Grillo