Coastal Carolina's Sam Lyons and USC's Wesley Bryan both advanced to the Elite Eight of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship Thursday.
Lyons rallied to win two of the last three holes and upset the top-ranked amateur in the U.S. and No. 2 in the world, Rickie Fowler. Lyons advanced to the round of 16 with a 3-and-2 victory over Augusta State head men's golf coach Josh Gregory in the morning.
In the afternoon tilt, Lyons built a 4-up lead through the first eight holes of the match, but the Oklahoma State golfer won the next four holes to square up the match with six to play. The two halved Nos. 13 and 14 before the No. 4 seed Fowler took his first lead of the match with a par on the 15th. Lyons fought back to win 16 with a par and even the match. Both players parred the 17th and sent the match to the par-5 18th. Lyons calmly rolled in his birdie putt on the hole and watched as Fowler's birdie attempt slid by the left side of the cup to give the Coastal Carolina rising senior the win.
With the victory, Lyons advances to Friday's quarterfinal match with Philip Bryan of Norman, Okla., at 7:15 a.m. Bryan is playing the tournament on his home course, as he is a member of the University of Oklahoma golf team.
South Carolina rising sophomore Wesley Bryan came from behind on the final few holes to defeat Chris Polski of Eugene, Ore., 1 up, in the third round of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship on Thursday afternoon. He will play the top seed in the tournament in the quarterfinals, which will begin early Friday morning.
Bryan won the first hole, but he would not win another until the 12th. By that point, Polski was 2 up following wins at the eighth and ninth. Bryan would win the 12th and 14th to square the match, but Polski would win the 15th to go back up by one hole. A Bryan par, coupled with a double-bogey by Polski at the 17th, squared the match with one hole to play. Bryan would come through in a big way with his only birdie of the round to win the hole and the match.
The native of Chapin, S.C., is slated to face the tournament’s top seed, University of Washington junior Nick Taylor, in the tournament quarterfinals at 7 a.m. CDT
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