JACK SENIOR BEATEN IN US AMATEUR CH/SHIP SEMI-FINAL

FROM THE USGA WEBSITE
By Dave Shedloski
Erin, Wisconsin – There was no great escape this time for the world’s top amateur, Patrick Cantlay. This time, he didn’t need one.
After twice rallying from 2 down with two holes to play this week at Erin Hills, Cantlay enjoyed a less stressful match Saturday morning versus Jordan Russell. Cantlay relied on his steady game to run away with a 4-and-3 victory in the semi-finals of the 111th U.S. Amateur.
Cantlay, 19, of Las Alamitos, Calif., will meet Kelly Kraft, of Denton, Texas, at 8:30 a.m. CDT Sunday for a 36-hole final to decide possession of the Havemeyer Trophy that goes to the U.S. Amateur champion.
Kraft, 22, eliminated Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team selection Jack Senior, 3 and 2, in the second semi-final (scroll down for a report of this match).
“It’s a great feeling,” said Cantlay, ranked No. 1 by the World Amateur Golf Ranking after an impressive run of golf the last four-five months. “So far this week I’ve come and done what I wanted to do, so it’s really exciting.”
“It was a good match. You know, it was just a fight. … But the better golfer obviously came out on top,” said Russell, 22, a senior at Texas A&M University. “This week was really great, making it this far.”
Two years ago, Russell caddied for his Aggie teammate Bronson Burgoon in the U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., after failing to make it through match play, so he was determined to give it … well, the old college try. “I just decided that that’s kind of what I want to do,” he said. “It seemed like a lot of fun so to make it this far was pretty cool.”
The match was a vintage seesaw affair with the two youngsters trading wins through the first seven holes – with five of those coming with pars. Cantlay, who never trailed, won the odd holes starting with a birdie at the first. At No. 7, he recorded a two-putt birdie on the par-5 hole with an unexpected win on the following hole that gave him breathing room.
At the par-4 eighth, playing 483 yards into the wind, Cantlay missed the green and couldn’t get up and down to save par. But Russell also needed three strokes to get on after laying up in the rough with a wedge, and then he three-putted for double bogey.
“That kind of got me started,” Cantlay said. “I just tried to play solid golf from there on out and hit smart shots. I wasn’t going to give any holes away.”
“Once Patrick got the momentum, he just played like he always does, and he did a really good job of just playing consistent,” Russell said. “He’s just clutch.”
That was evident at the finish.
Cantlay, a sophomore at UCLA, went 3 up at the 11th hole with a two-putt par after Russell missed the green long and couldn’t get up and down on the slick greens. At the 14th hole, another par 5, Cantlay again reached in two and two-putted from 9 feet to send the match dormie.
He ended it in style. Russell hit his approach to within 3 feet of the hole at the short par-4 15th, but Cantlay topped him yet again, sending his wedge to within 1 foot for the sure tie and putting himself into the final.
Cantlay undoubtedly feels like he’s where he should be. After four wins this spring as a freshman, he was the recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer, accepting the award from the Golden Bear at the Memorial Tournament. The following day he survived U.S. Open sectional qualifying in Columbus, Ohio, in a field beefed up with professionals, and at the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., he left as low amateur.
The week after that he set an amateur record with a second-round 60 at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., as part of a string of five straight top-25 finishes on the Tour, which had never been done.
“It’s been very special, probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my life this past … however long it’s been, like two and a half months or so,” Cantlay said. “It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s been a lot of fun.”
Of course, the work is not done. He has not yet won during his glorious summer.
“I feel like I’m playing well. I’m really excited to go out tomorrow and do my best,” he said.

REPORT OF KELLY KRAFT v JACK SENIOR SEMI-FINAL

Kelly Kraft was a baseball player as a kid. No one in his family played golf, or cared much about it. He took it up on a whim, just to hang out with some friends.
Now he's battling the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, playing for a U.S. Amateur title at Erin Hills.
“I'm thrilled,” said Kraft, after popping Englishman Jack Senior's dreams with a 3-and-2 win in a semi-final match on Saturday. “It hasn't really sunk in yet, I don't think. But I still have one more round to go before tomorrow, so I don't want to get too high before then. Hopefully, I can do some celebrating after tomorrow.”
Kraft already is ahead of himself, in a manner of speaking. He was not a high school star in Denton, Texas, and never won anything of note. He had a fine career at Southern Methodist University, a career he recently completed eligibility-wise. His senior season was solid, if unspectacular, and when summer ended, he planned to go back to school and complete a degree in Sociology.
“That's the plan,” he said with a grin that suggested plans could change. “As of right now, yeah.”
That was before he caught fire, winning the Texas Amateur and the Trans-Mississippi Amateur in consecutive outings. And that was before he started dropping 15-foot putts at Erin Hills like they were bad habits.
“I don't know how many of them I've made, but it's been quite a few,” he said. “I feel like I've made a lot, feel like I haven't missed many short putts. This is probably pretty close to the best I've ever putted.”
The flat stick was still on fire on Saturday. Senior was trying to become the first Englishman to win the U.S. Amateur since 1911, and to that end he took the early lead with a birdie on the first hole. But Senior's advantage was brief, vanishing when he bogeyed No. 2.
From that point Kraft, who survived a 23-hole marathon in the round of 16 to advance, enjoyed the upper hand. He led by 2 up after eight holes before a bogey at No. 9 opened the door a crack. But Kraft won No. 10 with a par, then birdied No. 11 to go 3 up.
Senior fought back with a birdie at No. 12 and it looked as if he might pick up another hole at No. 13. But Kraft's precision putting was prominent again, as he drained a downhill, 8-footer coming back to save par and halve the hole.
“That was definitely a key putt to make,” Kraft said. “I thought that would give me good momentum going to the par 5.”
He was correct. Kraft put a choke hold on the match with a spectacular eagle at the par-5 14th hole, knocking his second shot to within 6 feet. The players traded pars at No. 15 and when Senior couldn't drain a long birdie putt on No. 16, he conceded the match.
Kraft will go head to head with Patrick Cantlay in the 36-hole finale at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.