Wilson Furr brings in red-hot 62 for a piece of history and a U.S. Amateur medal
There are low rounds out there on Bandon Dunes – that much was made clear in the first 48 hours at the U.S. Amateur.
Playing in one of the final groups on Bandon Trails in Tuesday’s second round, Alabama senior Wilson Furr brought in a 9-under 62 that not only made Bandon history but U.S. Amateur history. In 120 years of this championship, only one score has ever come in lower in stroke play.
The number left Furr somewhat speechless. It also earned him this week’s stroke-play medal.
“We were just trying to run our game plan all day, and I just started hitting it close and a couple putts went in, and then kind of looked up and we were 7-under through 12,” he said. “Like I said, it just kind of happened real fast, so I don’t know what to say really.”
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Furr effectively stole the thunder from a handful of players who had impressed with low rounds of their own, namely Aman Gupta and Charles Osborne, who had already put their names on the Bandon Trails competitive course record before Furr came along and shattered it again.
McClure Meissner had also opened with a 64 on Bandon Dunes before falling back to a 74 on Trails on Tuesday.
Asked how his round of 62 rates among his best all-time, Furr relayed some skepticism about his ability to score on Bandon Trails.
“It’s funny I was telling my dad walking up 18, I was worried about that course,” he said. “I felt like I had a good eye for the other course, but I was worried about this place. I felt like it could come up and bite you, so here we are. It didn’t.”
This will be the first time Furr appears on a U.S. Amateur bracket.
Experience was also represented near the top of the bracket. Among Tuesday’s best rounds was Scott Harvey’s 5-under 67 on Bandon Dunes. The 42-year-old combined with Todd Mitchell last May to win the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball here. Harvey is making his 10th U.S. Amateur start this week. He also won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Before this week, Harvey last competed at the 2019 Mid-Amateur, last September.
“I just came out and honestly hadn’t played any golf at all,” he said of a T-7. “Just started practicing a little bit leading up to it, and each day kind of felt a little bit better, and today some putts went in. Wouldn’t that be cool if it kept happening? But yeah, I had a great day when I needed one.”
Stewart Hagestad, Kevin O’Connell, Andres Schonbaum and Derek Busby are among Harvey’s fellow mid-amateurs on the bracket. Otherwise, much of it is made up of college talent.
Behind Furr at 11 under, Michigan State’s James Piot got to 9-under with a second-round 65 on Bandon Dunes. That was good for the No. 2 seed, and behind that, North Carolina State’s Ben Shipp will take the No. 3 seed at 8 under.
Defending champion Andy Ogletree came up one shot short of the match-play cut, but last year’s runner-up John Augenstein is firmly in with a 5-under total.
The list of notables who missed match play doesn’t end with Ogletree. Cole Hammer, a semifinalist in 2018 after winning the Western Amateur weeks earlier, missed U.S. Amateur match play for the second year in a row.
Sunnehanna winner Preston Summerhays missed, and so did Wake Forest standout Alex Fitzpatrick, a GB&I Walker Cupper in 2019. Put U.S. Walker Cupper John Pak, a Florida State player, in the miss category along with William Holcomb V, who had a magical – and hysterical – run to the semifinals in 2019 and the North & South final just over a month ago.
Recent Western Amateur champion Pierceson Coody, along with his twin brother Parker, both missed match play, too.
How to watch
Wednesday Aug. 12 (Round of 64 matches): 6-7 p.m., Peacock (streaming); 7-9 p.m., Golf Channel
Thursday, Aug. 13 (Round of 16 matches): 6-7 p.m., Peacock; 7-9 p.m., Golf Channel
Friday, Aug. 14 (Quarterfinals matches): 6-7 p.m., Peacock; 7-9 p.m., Golf Channel
Saturday, Aug. 15 (Semifinal matches): 7-10 p.m., Golf Channel
Sunday, Aug. 16 (Championship match): 7-10 p.m., Golf Channel
