LaPlata’s Brent Martin, the only Washington D.C. area player left in the U.S. Amateur, trails Ryan McCarthy of Canada in the round of 32 at Chambers Bay, Wash. Martin, 23, a former player at Winthrop University, is 1 down through four holes.
On Wednesday, Georgetown Prep senior Denny McCarthy fell in the opening round of match play, 2 and 1, to Alex Ching of Honolulu. McCarthy played the 17 holes in 3-under par, but Ching, a junior at the University of San Diego, shot 6-under, making consecutive eagles at No. 4, a par-five, and No. 5, a 320-yard par-four, to go 4 up.
After tying at the cutline with 16 players following two rounds of stroke play Monday and Tuesday, Great Falls native and former PGA Tour player Michael Muehr lost in a playoff Wednesday morning for six available slots.
Martin made a splash in the opening round of match play, eliminating 2008 U.S. Amateur runner-up Drew Kittleson of Scottsdale, Ariz. in 19 holes. Kittleson, who fell in the 2008 finals to Danny Lee and is a senior at Florida State, missed a four-foot putt on the 18th hole that would have clinched victory.
Then on the first playoff hole, a par-five, Kittleson made bogey to hand the victory to Martin, who never trailed in the match after holing a 113-yard shot for an eagle on the first hole.
