Hey Everyone,

It’s been a heck of a week. I spent Monday-Wednesday walking around Merion GC watching a collection of the best amateur golfers in the world. 11 of those golfers were from New England.

I left on Wednesday night pretty exhausted and can’t imagine who the golfers feel trying to manage their game and emotions on the firm fairways, long rough, and fast greens.

I wrote about Monday and Tuesday at the U.S. Amateur.

There are eight players left. There’s TV coverage Friday to Sunday.

Michael Thorbjornsen is right back where he was on August 2: the top of the leaderboard. He shot a 65 (-5) and is tied for the lead with Jordan Spieth, Kurt Kitayama, Jake Knapp, and Michael Kim. He’s currently 38th in the FedEx Cup Standings. A win would jump him safely inside the top 30, the magic number for reaching the Tour Championship. Live Scoring

Chris Francoeur shot 65 (-6) and is T10 out in Idaho. Rob Oppenheim shot 69 (-2) and is T71. Trevor Cone and Stuart MacDonald both shot 62 and hold the lead. Live Scoring

Alexa Pano shot 69 (-3), and Megan Khang shot 73 (+1) in the first round in Oregon. | Live Scoring

I wrote about what’s at stake these next two events for Megan Khang as she fights for a spot on the Solheim Cup team. She has a stellar record in the last two events, going 6-0-1 in the team event. She’ll probably need a captain’s pick on August 24, the Monday before the FM Championship, to make the trip to the Netherlands.

Ryan Downes was the lone New England representative to make match play in the U.S. Amateur. He shot 69-71 (E) and earned the 30th seed. He drew 3-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad. Hagestad grabbed a 3-up lead after making birdies on holes 1, 2, and 4 and held Downes at arm’s length the rest of the match, winning 5&3.

Stretching for a connection to the Bay State, Christian Cavaliere, a Boston College grad, reached the Round of 16 before losing to Jack Whaley. He had his friend and BC Golf Team Assistant Coach Brendan Ridge on the bag.

The quarterfinals will be on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday, and the 36-hole championship match on Sunday. | Live Scoring

Here are the results for each of the New England players.

The championship match is set in the Mass. Women’s Amateur at Oak Hill CC in Fitchburg, Mass. It’s a rematch of last year’s semi-final match between Isabel Brozena and Molly Smith. Brozena won 3&2 at Concord CC last year en route to the title.

Smith has never reached the final in her decorated amateur career. This has her fourth semi-final appearance.

Both Brozena and Smith competed in the Women’s Amateur in Scotland this summer; they each made match play. Then last week, they played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Brozena missed the cut for match play, but Smith reached the Round of 32.

I wrote profiles about Smith and Brozena before they teed it up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Isabel Brozena profile

Molly Smith profile

The match will start at 7:30 am. It’s open to the public, and it’s an 18-hole match. Go watch! If you can’t, MassGolf will have live streaming on their Instagram. | Live Scoring

This event takes place from August 13-16 on three courses. On Thursday, the field played Foxborough CC. Then they’ll play Wentworth Hills on Friday. Saturday and Sunday are both at Ledgemont CC. Ken Charnley is the only player under par after a 71 (1-) in the opening round. | Live Scoring

John Sculley shot 68-68 (-6) to win the College division by four shots over Ronan Mooney and Max Jackson… Nicholas Pandelena and Peter French both shot 8-under par in the Open Division, beating Jason Thresher and Ethan Whitney by one shot. Josiah Hakala, who was out at Merion GC as an Alternate on Monday for the U.S. Amateur, was two off the lead… Lukas Schleyer shot 3-under par to win the Boys 15-18 Division by three over Riley Donovan… Junhang Wu won by seven shots with an impressive 4-under par score. Elle Reid won the Girls Division at 5-over par, beating Teresa Esposito by three shots. | Results

Tom O'Brien (72), Greg Badger (72), Chris McCarthy (73), Robert Greenleaf (73), Kevin MacIntyre (74), Eric Daniel (75), Bryan McAllister (75), Colin Ahern (75), Peter Verrier (75), James Staffieri (76), Michael Suttle (76), Steve Foley (76), Ignacio Fanlo (76), Kevin Johnson (76)

Rich Manning (70), Don Cornell (72), Chris George (72), Brian Buckley (73), Joe Brosseau (73), Patrick McKeown (73), Darin Eddy (73), Bruce Barboza (74), Brendan Brazel (74), Mike Trombley (74), Chris Kling (75), Joseph Oliveira (75), Domenic Veneziano (75), Mark Dwyer (76), Brian Foley (76), Chris Tillo (76), Mark Shay (76), Glenn Kelley (76), Martin Gaynor (76), Paul Mitchell (76), Jeff Fisher (76), Stephen Smith (76), Mark Pendergast (76)

Kevin Marcoux (66), Todd Ezold (70), Bryan Mcallister (71), Jim Forsgard (73), David Marshall (73), Dean Parziale (73), Andrew Falcone (73), Todd Hagenburg (74), Randy Daniels (74), Bud Schultz (74), Joe Eadie (74), Timothy Murray (75), Joe Weinacht (75), EJ Wholey (76), Vincent Bucci (76), David Holmes (76), Tom Brett (76), Cob Carlson (76)

Phillip Joy and Phillip Roberts took home the 2nd annual event. Indian Pond was the host course.

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