Oklahoma State University Athletics
Two Cowboys Advance At U.S. Amateur
August 26, 2009 | Cowboy Golf
Aug. 26, 2009
TULSA, Okla. - A pair of Oklahoma State Cowboys advanced to the second round of match play at the U.S. Amateur Championship on Wednesday at Southern Hills Country Club. Senior Trent Whitekiller and sophomore Peter Uihlein each posted 19-hole victories to move into the round of 32.
Taking on Wesley Bryan, Whitekiller grabbed the lead on three different occasions during the first 18 holes, but never saw the lead grow to more than 1-up. The Sallisaw, Okla., native birdied No. 2 to take his initial lead, but saw the match go back to square at the third hole. Whitekiller jumped back in front with another birdie at the sixth before Bryan claimed two of the next three holes for his first lead of the match.
Whitekiller drew even with a par at the 10th and took the lead for the third time at the 11th. He held his advantage until the 15th before Bryan won back-to-back holes to jump in front with two holes remaining. Whitekiller forced extra holes with a par at the 18th and advanced after posting a birdie at the par-4 first hole.
He will face Mike Van Sickle tomorrow morning at 9:50 a.m. (CST).
In his match against James Sacheck, Uihlein never led by more than one during the course of play. The Bradenton, Fla., native birdied the fourth to go out in front before Sacheck evened the match two holes later with a par. Uihlein made the turn with a 1-up lead after making a par at the ninth. The match went back to all square with a Sacheck birdie at the 12th.
Sacheck took a brief lead with a birdie at the par-3 14th before Uihlein answered with a birdie one hole later. The Cowboy standout birdied the 17th and Sacheck birdied the 18th to send the duo back to the first tee. Like Whitekiller, Uihlein carded a birdie to move into a second-round matchup against Connor Driscoll at 7:50 a.m.
The day's marquee matchup featured a pair of U.S. Walker Cup members in OSU's Rickie Fowler and Alabama's Bud Cauley. Cauley won the first and never gave up the lead, closing out the two-time All-American with a birdie-birdie finish on Nos. 16 and 17 for a 3-and-1 victory.
"I feel like even par out here today would have won just about any other match," Fowler said. "Two Walker Cup guys together - we're on the Walker Cup for a reason, two good players, so I knew it was going to be a good match. We had a good time, and Bud just made a few more putts than me."
OSU junior Kevin Tway battled back from a 2-hole deficit with five holes remaining to square his match heading to the 17th against Brett Kanda. However, a bogey at the par-4 18th by Tway sent Kanda into Round Two.
Sophomore Morgan Hoffmann built a 3-up cushion through 12 holes against Charlie Holland, but Holland rallied by taking the next three holes to square the match. The duo halved the final three holes before Holland closed out the match with a par on the 19th hole.
