Thornberry knocks off Niemann in marquee opening-round match at U.S. Amateur

   You just never know how a match-play bracket is going to work itself out.

   But once Braden Thornberry, the Mississippi junior who was the impressive winner of the NCAA individual title at Rich Harvest Farms, survived Wednesday morning’s 13-for-8 playoff to make it to match play in the U.S. Amateur at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., the day’s marquee opening-round match was set.

   Thornberry, No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, would draw No. 1, Joaquin Niemann, a native of Chile. And Thornberry, winner of the Fred Haskins Award, pulled out a 2-up victory to oust Niemann, who had finished tied for sixth in qualifying with a 3-under 137 total.

   Niemann had planned to hone his game at the University of South Florida, but there were indications following his loss to Thornberry that we’ve seen the last of Niemann’s amateur career. It looks like he’s going to turn pro sooner rather than later.

   Thornberry relies on his short game and it was good enough to deliver him a national championship as well as a tie for fourth against PGA Tour pros in the FedEx St. Jude’s Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis earlier this summer.

   But it was a long shot that turned out to be the difference in his match with Niemann. With the match all square at the 13^th, Thornberry had to cut a 2-iron from 225 yards around a tree. He did exactly that, knocking it on the green and then making the birdie putt that gave him a lead he never relinquished.

   “It’s kind of unfortunate for two of the higher-ranked players to play each other in the first round, but you got to do it at some point,” Thornberry of Olive Branch, Miss. told the USGA website.

    Thornberry draws Australian Travis Smyth in Thursday morning’s second round and a round-of-16 match awaits in the afternoon if Thornberry can win that match.

   I mentioned in my first post about the U.S. Amateur Wednesday that Thornberry was one of three very good players involved in that 13-for-8 hair-pull just to get into match play. The other two I mentioned, Texas senior Scottie Scheffler, the low amateur in the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, and Florida State senior Harry Ellis, winner of The Amateur Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, didn’t make it.

   Not that getting into match play is any guarantee of anything. Maverick McNealy, who wrapped up a spectacular collegiate career at Stanford in the spring and is No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, was stunned, 2 and 1, by Connor  Syme of Scotland.

   There has been a lot of speculation about when or whether McNealy will turn pro, although I’m pretty sure he’ll be part of the U.S. team for next month’s Walker Cup Match at Los Angeles Country Club. But the son of an aerospace engineer has seriously considered the path of career amateur and his talents off the golf course reportedly would make him a highly-sought recruit for any company.

   The most interesting second-round match Thursday morning will be the leadoff pairing of Oklahoma State teammates Hayden Wood, the record-setting qualifying medalist, and Kristoffer Ventura of Norway.

   Wood, a junior at Oklahoma State from Edmond, Okla., cruised to a 4 and 3 victory over Chris Crisologo of Canada. Ventura, a senior for the Cowboys, dusted talented Missouri junior Hayden Buckley of Tupelo, Miss., 7 and 6.

   The runnerup in qualifying, Oregon sophomore Norman Xiong of San Diego was ousted by former Rhode Island standout Billy Walthouse of Longmeadow, Mass., who claimed  a  2-up triumph.

   And while Scheffler was unable to advance to match play, there is still hope that Texas can earn a sweep of the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Amateur championships. Doug Ghim, the Longhorns’ senior from Arlington Heights, Ill., is still in with a chance to join Sophia Schubert, the Texas senior who won the women’s title down the West Coast at San Diego Country Club last Saturday, after a 4 and 3 victory over Chris Waters of Atlanta.

   Ghim almost got his former Texas teammate, Gavin Hall, in the second round. Hall of Pittsford, N.Y., an underrated player on a star-studded Texas roster the last couple years, fell on the 19^th hole to Sahith Theegala, Pepperdine’s talented junior from Chino Hills, Calif.