Wake Forest Athletics
Haas Advances to Quarterfinals at U.S. Amateur
8/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 21, 2003
OAKMONT, Pa. - Wake Forest golfer Bill Haas has advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship after posting second and third-round victories on Thursday.
The par 70, 7,171-yard layout at Oakmont Country Club is the second-longest in U.S. Amateur history.
After cruising to one of the easier victories of the first round with a 7 and 5 win over Jessie Mudd on Wednesday, the competition got a little tougher for Haas on Thursday. He recorded with a 3 and 1 victory over Josh Persons, a sophomore golfer at Kansas State, in a second-round matchup on Thursday morning. In what turned out to be a back-and-forth match, Haas found himself down early after double-bogeying No. 2. Persons bogeyed No. 3 to get it back to all-square, but then birded the fourth to own a 1-up lead through the seventh hole. Haas then won the next three holes to take a 2-up lead in the 10th, but Persons won two of the next three to make it all-square going into the 14th hole. Haas then made a long birdie putt on 14 to go up by one. Persons bogeyed both 16 and 17, allowing Haas to clinch the match at 3 and 1.
In the afternoon, Haas faced Zach Atkinson. Atkinson took an early lead and remained at 1-up through the fifth hole. Haas then squared it up through No. 8, but an Atkinson birdie on No. 9 gave him the one-hole advantage again. However, Atkinson bogeyed the next two holes and Haas took a 1-up lead. Haas shot even over the next six holes while Atkinson went +1, allowing Haas to clinch the match on No. 17, 2 and 1.
On Friday, Haas will face David Oh, a former Southern Cal golfer, in a quarterfinal match at 9:45 a.m. Oh was the surprise winner on Thursday, defeating longtime amateur and Walker Cup team member Trip Keuhne, 3 and 1. Oh then cruised to a third-round victory, 6 and 5, over Matt Kohn to set up his match with Haas.
Television coverage of the U.S. Amateur is set for 12 noon - 3:00 p.m. on ESPN.
