TicketsCINCINNATI – Former University of Cincinnati men's golfer Austin Squires (Union, Ky. Ryle HS) took down the top seed at the U.S. Amateur, defeating Stanford's Brandon Wu 2 up Wednesday in opening-round action of match play at the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
The feat capped off a wild day for Squires, who earlier survived a 27-player, 4-hole playoff to earn the final seed in the match play event.
Squires carded six birdies and finished the 18 holes at 3-under par against Wu. He built a 2-up advantage after back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. After Wu cut the lead to 1 up on the 17th, Squires won the round with a birdie on 18 while Wu took a bogie on the final hole.
Squires, who graduated from UC in May, advances to face Itay's Stefano Mazzoli on Thursday in the Round of 32. Action begins at 8 a.m. ET. Follow the live scoring at USGA.org.
Squires advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur last year in Pebble Beach, Calif. It marked the highest finish by a Bearcat at the U.S. Amateur in school history.
Overall, Squires has played in the U.S. Amateur three times. He also qualify for the event in 2017 but fell short of advancing to match play.
The feat capped off a wild day for Squires, who earlier survived a 27-player, 4-hole playoff to earn the final seed in the match play event.
Squires carded six birdies and finished the 18 holes at 3-under par against Wu. He built a 2-up advantage after back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. After Wu cut the lead to 1 up on the 17th, Squires won the round with a birdie on 18 while Wu took a bogie on the final hole.
Squires, who graduated from UC in May, advances to face Itay's Stefano Mazzoli on Thursday in the Round of 32. Action begins at 8 a.m. ET. Follow the live scoring at USGA.org.
Squires advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur last year in Pebble Beach, Calif. It marked the highest finish by a Bearcat at the U.S. Amateur in school history.
Overall, Squires has played in the U.S. Amateur three times. He also qualify for the event in 2017 but fell short of advancing to match play.