Bucknell University Athletics
Connor O'Brien '19 Advances to Match Play Round at U.S. Junior Amateur
7/22/2015 1:11:00 PM | Men's Golf
UPDATE -- Connor O'Brien was defeated 6 and 5 by Brendan O'Reilly in the match play round of 64.
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Connor O'Brien, who will be joining the Bucknell men's golf team as a first-year student in a few weeks, has advanced to the match-play level of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Colleton River Plantation Club in Bluffton, South Carolina. One of 64 match-play qualifiers from a field of 156 players, O'Brien will square off against Brendan O'Reilly of Hinsdale, Illinois, on Wednesday at 2:21 p.m.
A native of Rowayton, Connecticut, O'Brien shot 75-75 (+6) during the two rounds of stroke play. Even though he finished his second round on Tuesday morning, a weather delay bumped the conclusion of the second round for many players to Wednesday morning. Ultimately O'Brien was one of eight players at 6-over par who entered a playoff for the final five spots into the field of 64 for match play, and he was able to advance. A birdie at the par-5 eighth hole -- O'Brien's second-to-last hole of stroke play -- helped him get into the playoff.
Brandon Mancheno of Jacksonville, Florida, was the stroke-play medalist with a 6-under 138. O'Reilly finished in fourth place at 4-under.
O'Brien is the oldest player in the U.S. Junior Amateur field. The championship is open to any amateur golfer who will not have reached their 18th birthday on or before July 25, and who has a Handicap Index not exceeding 6.4. O'Brien made the age cutoff by one day.
O'Brien was co-medalist at sectional qualifying at Wintonbury Hills Golf Club in Connecticut. He shot a 2-under 138 there, with the top three advancing to the finals at Colleton River Plantation Club, which at 7.366 yards is the second-longest course in Junior Am history.
O'Brien won the Connecticut Junior Amateur Championship in 2013 and was runner-up at that event this year. He has also won the AJGA Killington Junior Championship.
Including sectional qualifying, a total of 3,184 players entered this year's U.S. Junior Amateur. There will be six rounds of match play competition, with the 36-hole final slated for Saturday. Fox Sports 1 will have coverage of the semifinals and championship on Friday and Saturday from 2-4 p.m. Eastern.
The event dates back to 1948, and past champions include the likes of Tiger Woods (1991, 1992, 1993), Jordan Spieth (2009, 2011), Hunter Mahan (1999), David Duval (1989) and Johnny Miller (1964).
Players Mentioned
