Cougars' Becker Pulls Off Big Upset to Advance to Final 16
LEBANON -- BYU's Clay Ogden won his second- and third-round matches Thursday to earn a date with 15-year-old sensation Michelle Wie in the quarterfinals of the 80th U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio.
Clay's Cougar teammate, Nick Becker, advanced to the third round with the upset of the day in the second round before being eliminated in the round of 16.
"What a great opportunity for both of these guys," BYU men's golf coach Bruce Brockbank said. "It'll be interesting to see how Clay handles this situation. It's an exciting time for him and it's great to see him continue having success."
In the round of 32, Ogden was down three strokes with four holes to play but birdied five consecutive holes to win on the 19th hole over Derek Whiting of Alexandria, Minn.
Ogden, a quarterfinalist at last year's tournament, earned back-to-back trips to the quarterfinal round when he defeated Andrew Black of Chattanooga, Tenn., 3 and 2, in his second match Thursday.
The junior-to-be at BYU was eliminated in the quarterfinals of last year's event by eventual champion Ryan Moore.
This year, the West Point, Utah, native will be in the national spotlight when he faces Wie, the first female to compete in a men's USGA championship. The 15-year-old sensation from Honolulu advanced with an impressive 6-and-5 win over C.D. Hockersmith of Richmond, Ind., in the morning and then defeated Jim Renner of Plainville, Mass., 3 and 1.
Becker provided the big surprise of the second round when he downed Jeff Overton of Evansville, Ind., 3 and 1. Overton was a second-team All-American as a senior at Indiana last season and finished the year as the No. 4 ranked golfer in the country. He is among the top Walker Cup candidates and is currently tied for second in the Golfweek/Titleist Amateur Rankings.
Becker, the reigning Mountain West Conference Champion, tried to be the second Cougar to advance to the round of eight but was defeated by Brad Marek of Arlington Heights, Ill., 3 and 1. The junior-to-be at BYU this fall helped the Cougars to a fourth-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championship.
Quarterfinal and semifinal matches are set for Friday with the eventual two survivors squaring off in the 36-hole final on Saturday beginning at 7:30 a.m. The winner gets an invitation to the Masters.