Sports
The U.S. Amateur: Three Birdies Make a Comeback for Spencer Fletcher
Los Altan now waits to see if 75 makes match play cut, after coming back from the brink.
Standing on the 14th tee of Erin Hills Golf Course, Spencer Fletcher knew his U.S. Amateur hopes were hanging by a thread.
A bogey-double bogey combination on holes 12 and 13 left the Los Altos native flailing at 6-over par on his round Tuesday in Erin, WI.
“Starting out today, things were not going very well,” Fletcher said. “Everything was jeopardy.”
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However, things turned around in a hurry for Fletcher when he made three straight birdies on holes 14, 15 and 16 to close with a 75 and a two-day total of 1-over par 143.
“Those three birdies were huge to get back on track,” said Fletcher, who shot a 2-under 68 in Monday’s opening round at Blue Mound Country Club. “We had it very difficult today with the wind blowing really hard.”
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The birdie turkey might just be enough to get the Arizona State junior-to-be into Wednesday’s match play competition. The top 64 players will compete in the head-to-head portion.
“That was really clutch,” Fletcher said of his birdie run. “It was certainly the pinnacle of the round. I knew if I didn’t do that, I had no chance.”
As it stands after play was called due to darkness at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, Fletcher was holding on to an unofficial tie for 82nd place, one shot out of a playoff to get in.
But the cut line could change greatly Wednesday morning, due to an almost four-hour weather delay on Tuesday, which left the entire afternoon wave at Erin Hills with holes still to play.
“I wanted one more birdie on either 17 or 18 just to get some insurance,” Fletcher said. “But it is going to be a long time until the rest of guys finish because they are going to have to go back out there tomorrow.”
Even he doesn’t get a chance to compete for the title, Fletcher is proud of his accomplishments at his third U.S. Amateur.
“It’s going to be a long nervous time for me having to wait to see if I get in,” Fletcher said. “But I shot 1-over overall, which in most Amateurs would be near medalist or at least in the top-5.”
