Top-Seeded Fernandez Valdes Of Argentina Advances In U.S. Junior Amateur

Shoal Creek, Ala. – Top-seeded Jorge Fernandez Valdes, 15, of Argentina, advanced but defending champion Cory Whitsett, 16, of Houston, Texas, was defeated in Wednesday’s first-round matches at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Shoal Creek.

Twenty-one of the 32 matches were completed before play was halted by darkness. Play will resume Thursday morning.

Cory Whitsett of Houston lost in his bid to defend his Junior Amatuer title. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

Fernandez Valdes, who led the stroke play portion with a 36-hole total of 5-under-par 139, needed to make a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to advance over Cory McElyea, 16, of Santa Cruz, Calif. Neither player held more than a one-hole margin.

“I knew I was going to win,” said Fernandez Valdes, not meaning to be cocky in his limited English. “I had no more legs. I was tired. I couldn’t make putts like before. It was amazing.”

Dom Bozzelli, 17, of Pittsford, N.Y., won the fourth and fifth holes and slowly pulled away to earn a 4-and-3 victory over Whitsett, who was seeking to become the first player to win back-to-back titles since Tiger Woods did it in 1992-93.

Bobby Wyatt, 15, of Mobile, Ala., and Patrick Rodgers, 16, of Canada, earned one-sided victories.

Wyatt never lost a hole against Drew Preston, 17, of Ada, Mich., on his way to a 6-and-5 decision.  Rodgers beat Parker Clowers, 17, of Jacksonville, Fla., by the same score.

“I felt comfortable with my lead after the 11th hole,” said Wyatt, who blasted from a greenside bunker and made a 35-footer for birdie to go 5 up.

Tom Lovelady of Birmingham, Ala., celebrated his 15th birthday with a big win over Dashiell Lindsell, 17, of Burlingame, Calif., 6 and 5.

“I won’t forget this day. It’s one of the best days I’ve ever had,” said Lovelady. “First, I made it to match play and then I won 6 and 5.”

Another favorite is Julian Suri, 17, of St. Augustine, Fla., who won his first match over Richard Lamb, 17, of South Bend, Ind., 5 and 4. He narrowly lost in a nine-hole playoff for the last spot in his U.S. Open sectional qualifier earlier this summer.

“He made some mistakes and took the pressure off of me,” said Suri, who was the equivalent of two under par for his 14 holes.

Michael McGowan, 17, of Southern Pines, N.C., is the lone fully exempt player to stay alive for the moment. He and Bhavik (Bobby) Patel, 17, of Bakersfield, Calif., are deadlocked after 21 holes. McGowan was a quarterfinalist in 2007. They’ll be back to continue their dual Thursday morning, starting on the 464-yard 4th hole.

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 Wednesday’s completed first-round matches at the U.S. Junior Amateur at 7,251-yard, par 72, Shoal Creek golf course (first round matches will resume at 7 a.m. Thursday (CDT):

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

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

First Round Matches In Progress

Bhavik Pate, Bakersfield, Calif., and Michael McGowan, Southern Pines, N.C. -- All Square (thru  21 holes)

Martin Trainer, Palo Alto, Calif., and Blaine Woodruff, Acworth, Ga. – All Square (13)

Kevin Penner, Sammamish, Wash., and Gaston De La Torre, Brush Prairie, Wash. – Bush 1 up (14)

Cameron Peck, Olympia, Wash., and Bobby Lange, Sherman Oaks, Calif. -- Peck 4 up (14)

Jack Perry, Santa Barbara, Calif., and Boom Sritart, Keller, Texas, -- Sritart 1 up (12)

Justin Kelley, Haiku, Hawaii and Wilson Day, Raleigh, N.C. – Day 2 up (11)

Rak Cho, Korea, and Simon St. Louis, Canada – Cho 2 up (10)

Phillip Choi, Orlando, Fla., and Brett Komoto, Honolulu, Hawaii – Choi 2 up (10)

Seth Reeves, Duluth, Ga., and Robert Galbreath, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. – Galbreath 3 up (8)

Bryden Macpherson, Australia, and Taylor Travis, Fremont, Calif. – Travis 1 up (8)

Emiliano Grillo, Argentina, and Tyler Klava, Pace, Fla., Grillo 4 up (7)