Dallas' Jordan Spieth advances to quarterfinals at U.S. Junior Amateur

Dallas' Jordan Spieth won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship on Thursday at Gold Mountain GC in Bremerton, Wash. The 17-year-old, who contended in the past two HP Byron Nelson Championships, will play Andrew Whalen of Ephrata, Wash. in Friday's quarterfinals.


Plano's William Zalatoris, 14, won his second-round match but then lost in the afternoon. Dallas' Scottie Scheffler lost to his second-round match to Connor Black of Katy in 19 holes. And Matt Gilchrest of Southlake lost to William Starke of Chapin, S.C., 1 up.


Spieth, the 2009 Junior Amateur champion, defeated Wesley Gosselin of Knoxville, Tenn., 2 and 1, and then beat Wilson Bateman of Canada, 2 and 1. Zalatoris defeated Andy Olsen of San Antonio, 3 and 2, but then suffered a 2-and-1 defeat to Chelso Barrett.

“Today is the hardest day to get by,” said Spieth, who will attend Texas in the fall. “I don’t even know why. Maybe it’s just me. You just have so many players that can spark at any time in the afternoon. And there’s not as much as pressure, whereas a semifinal would be a lot more pressure for a lot of people.''

Spieth knows he'll have to play better to move on.

“I’m waiting for everything to fire at the same time,” said Spieth, who tied for 16th at the 2010 Nelson and tied for 32nd in May. “I’m waiting for a really low round. I potentially had it the second round of stroke play and let it go on the back nine (outward nine). But hey, you don’t want to be playing your best golf until Saturday.”

Quarterfinal and semifinal matches are Friday; the 36-hole championship final will be Saturday.

RESULTS

Round of 32

Upper Bracket

Beau Hossler, Mission Viejo, Calif. def. Austin Smotherman, Loomis, Calif., 1 up
Connor Black, Katy, Texas def. Scottie Scheffler, Dallas, 19 holes
Adam Ball, Richmond, Va. def. James Park, Korea, 2 and 1
Juan Yumar, Venezuela def. Derek Bard, New Hartford, N.Y., 2 and 1
Jordan Spieth, Dallas def. Wesley Gosselin, Knoxville, Tenn., 2 and 1
Wilson Bateman, Canada def. Stuart Thomas, Knoxville, Tenn., 1 up
Taylor Moore, Edmond, Okla. def. Robby Shelton, Wilmer, Ala., 6 and 4
Andrew Whalen, Ephrata, Wash. def. Christopher Petefish, Scottsdale, Ariz., 2 and 1

Lower Bracket

William Starke, Chapin, S.C. def. Matt Gilchrest, Southlake, 1 up
Zachary Herr, New Hope, Pa. def. Aaron Kunitomo, Lahaina, Hawaii, 3 and 2
Chelso Barrett, Keene, N.H. def. Jim Liu, Smithtown, N.Y., 2 up
William Zalatoris, Plano def. Andy Olsen San Antonio, 3 and 2
Nicolas Echavarria, Colombia def. Yi Keun Chang, Walnut, Calif., 2 and 1
Emilio Maurer, Mexico def. Jordan Niebrugge, Mequon, Wis., 5 and 4
Hank Lebioda, Winter Springs, Fla. def. A.J. McInerney, Henderson, Nev., 7 and 5
Ryan Benton, Dothan, Ala. def. Jonathan De Los Reyes, Antioch, Calif., 2 and 1

Round of 16

Upper Bracket

Beau Hossler, Mission Viejo, Calif. def. Connor Black, Katy, Texas, 5 and 4
Adam Ball, Richmond, Va. def. Juan Yumar, Venezuela, 2 up
Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas def. Wilson Bateman, Canada, 2 and 1
Andrew Whalen, Ephrata, Wash. def. Taylor Moore, Edmond, Okla., 1 up

Lower Bracket

William Starke, Chapin, S.C. def. Zachary Herr, New Hope, Pa., 3 and 2
Chelso Barrett, Keene, N.H. def. William Zalatoris, Plano, Texas, 2 and 1
Nicolas Echavarria, Colombia def. Emilio Maurer, Mexico, 3 and 2
Ryan Benton, Dothan, Ala. def. Hank Lebioda, Winter Springs, Fla., 3 and 2

Quarterfinals

Beau Hossler, Mission Viejo, Calif. vs. Adam Ball, Richmond, Va.
Jordan Spieth, Dallas, vs. Andrew Whalen, Ephrata, Wash.
William Starke, Chapin, S.C., vs. Chelso Barrett, Keene, N.H.
Nicolas Echavarria, Colombia, vs. Ryan Benton, Dothan, Ala.