It was a match fitting for a final, only it came two rounds earlier.
Luke Colton, 18, from Frisco, Texas, and the second-ranked junior player in the country, took down top-ranked Miles Russell, 4 and 3, in Friday morning’s quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest in Dallas.
Colton collected seven birdies in 15 holes, including birdies at each of his final two to put away the 16-year-old Russell, who is also ranked No. 18 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Colton, No. 26 in WAGR, jumped on Russell early, making a long birdie putt from the fringe to win the par-3 third and go 2 up. Russell, who lipped out shots on each of his first two holes, would battle back, tying the match after six holes.
After Russell drained a 30-footer for birdie at the par-4 ninth, Colton poured a 25-footer on top of him to tie the hole and turn at 1 up. He and Russell, both lefties, shot a best-ball, 6-under 30 on the front nine. To compare, the other three quarterfinals posted such marks of 33, 35 and 34.
But Russell’s putter would eventually cost him. He three-putted the par-3 11th from 12 feet for bogey to lose the hole and go 1 down. He later missed mid-range putts at Nos. 14 and 15 that could’ve extended the match.
Colton now advances to Friday afternoon’s semifinals, which start at 2 p.m. ET. He will face the winner of Hamilton Coleman and Sohan Patel; Coleman was 2 up through 16 holes.
Texans have won eight of the last 25 U.S. Juniors with Noah Goodwin the most recent to do so, in 2017. Just two left-handers have won U.S. Junior titles – Brian Harman (2003) and Cory Whitsett (2007).
