ERIN, Wis.—Texas A&M senior All-American Jordan Russell upset defending champion and Oklahoma State All-American Peter Uihlein, 2 and 1, on Friday afternoon to advance to the semifinals of the 2011 U.S. Amateur Championship at Erin Hills Golf and Country Club outside Milwaukee.
Russell (College Station) moves to within one win of the finals and will face UCLA's Patrick Cantlay, the Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the national collegiate player of the year, on Saturday at 8 a.m. (CT). NBC Sports will air tape-delay coverage from 3-5 p.m. (CT), while live scoring will be available on usga.org.
The pair were all square through three holes before Russell birdied the 450-yard, par-4 fourth to go 1 up. Two holes later, a par coupled with a Uihlein bogey gave the Aggie senior a two-hole lead heading to the 7th tee box.
Uihlein, the Ben Hogan Award winner in 2011, climbed back to within one hole on No. 9 after a Russell bogey, then brought the match all square with a par on hole No. 12.
Russell immediately answered back, draining back-to-back birdies on the par-3, 188-yard 13th and par-5, 586-yard 14th to regain a two-hole advantage. Both golfers shot par on Nos. 15 and 16, setting up a must-win hole for Uihlein on the par-4, 509-yard 17th.
After his approach, Russell chipped his third shot to within inches of the cup, and par was conceded. Uihlein needed to make a birdie putt to force the match to the 18th hole but missed, giving Russell the 2 and 1 victory. The loss snapped a nine-match win streak for Uihlein at the U.S. Amateur.
JORDAN RUSSELL QUOTES
On the day: "Today's matches were both really tough. Neither was easy. I played well but the guys I was playing were fighting just as hard as I was."
On the Round of 16 Match (def. Bobby Leopold, 19 holes): "I was up early on Leopold, but I kind of struggled in the middle part of the round. I gave him a few holes and he took a few with birdies. I had to bounce back, and had to make a 5-foot birdie putt on 18 to keep it going. It was a pretty big putt. Then I made par on the first playoff hole and that was good enough to win."
On the Quarterfinal Match (def. Peter Uihlein, 2 and 1): "Against Peter, it was a good fight all day. I made a birdie early, he took some holes around the turn and then I got them back. I made a 40-foot put on 13 and then made an 8-footer on 14 after he missed a 12-footer, and I think those two putts swung the match my way. I closed him out with an up-and-down on 17."
On facing Patrick Cantlay in the semifinals: "I just know he's a great player and playing great right now. He's been down in at least his last three matches and ended up flipping them, which is the same thing I did. Nothing will come easy and I will have to make quite a few birdies and clutch pars. If I get in trouble, I'll have to try and grind out a few holes. He's a clutch player, so the more birdie looks I can get maybe I can put some pressure on him."
U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS/SCHEDULE
Saturday's Semifinals (NBC will air tape-delay coverage from 3-5 p.m. CT)
Jordan Russell vs Patrick Cantlay, 8 a.m.
Kelly Kraft vs Jack Senior, 8:15 a.m.
Sunday's Championship (36 holes of match play, NBC live coverage 3-5 p.m. CT)
Semifinal winners, 9 a.m./2 p.m.
Russell's Results at U.S. Amateur
Stroke Play: 140, -2 (68-72), t-30th
First Round: def. Zahkai Brown, 1 up
Second Round: def. Bryson Dechambeau, 5 and 3
Round of 16: def. Bobby Leopold, 19 holes
Quarterfinals: def. Peter Uihlein, 2 and 1