Matthew McClean’s round of 32 loss meant he went on the bag for good friend Hugh Foley in the round of 16 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Kinloch Golf Club, but it wasn’t enough to avoid defeat.
Foley had come back from 3DOWN after seven holes to defeat Colorado’s Colin Prater in the morning and had a quick turnaround for the last 16 tie against 2014 champion and 2016 runner-up Scott Harvey from North Carolina.
At 46, Harvey was the oldest of the 64 players who reached the matchplay section and, playing in his 15th U.S. Mid-Am, had won 27 of his matches played in the knockout format.
With Foley himself a former runner-up, losing out to McClean in the 2022 decider, this was one of the most eagerly anticipated clashes of the round and it didn’t disappoint.
Foley took an early advantage with a win on the second and maintained his lead until a Harvey birdie on seven squared the tie. The North Carolinan got his nose in front for the first time with a birdie on 11, but Foley struck back with a hole-winning birdie of his own on 13 and the match was balanced on a knife edge.
They’d remain all-square until the 17th where Harvey would again edge in front with a birdie and closed out the match in style with another on the final hole for a 2UP victory.
Although he’ll be bitterly disappointed having come so close to making the quarter-finals, reaching the last 16 of a 266-man field was an excellent achievement and both Foley and McClean can return home with their heads held high.
34-year-old Evan Beck of nearby Virginia Beach appears to be the man to beat, having lost to three-time winner Stewart Hagestad in the final match last year and come through strokeplay qualifying as co-medallist.
His energy reserves will be tested, however, having needed played 39 holes in his two matches on Tuesday.
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