Star Golfer Fights Way Through First Round
8/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 22, 2001
ATLANTA, Ga. - Andy Doeden, a senior on the TCU men's golf team, battled back to claim a 2 and 1 victory in the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga. on Wednesday afternoon. Competing in his second U.S. Amateur, Doeden lost in the first round of match play last year.
Doeden, the 38th seed in the tournament, tore up the course in the late stags to down 27th-seeded Jay Morgan of Choctaw, Okla. Morgan, a senior at Wake Forest, placed 30th individually at the 2001 NCAA Men's Golf Championships in June.
Down three holes through seven, Doeden made a charge starting with a birdie on the par-four 8th. He then continued his roll with consecutive birdies on numbers 9 and 10. Morgan lost all three holes, managing just a par, bogey and par. With three successive wins, the TCU senior leveled the match with eight holes to play. From then on the Fargo, N.D., native controlled the match.
Doeden took his first lead of the day on the 14th when he registered a par while Morgan settled for a bogey. He upped the lead to two holes on the 16th with a par, and clinched the victory on the 17th when he tapped in for par. In all, he won six and tied two of the final 10 holes.
The Horned Frog will go head-to-head with sixth-seeded Camilo Villegas on Thursday beginning at 8:50 a.m. (CT). Villegas, a native of Columbia, tied for fourth place in the stroke play event with a two-round score of 136, good for six-under-par. Doeden carded a two-day total of 142 and landed in a tie for 35th place. The morning winner will move into the third round, which will be played on Thursday afternoon beginning at 1:40 (CT).
In the biggest upset of the day, top-seeded Chris Mundorf, the stroke play champion, lost to number 64 Greg Earnhardt. Just 11 of the top 32 seeds remain in the event, with nine ranked among the top 16.
Thursday's second and third round coverage will be shown on ESPN from 1-4 p.m. (CT). Horned Frog fans can also follow the action hole-by-hole on the official website of the tournament, www.usamateur.org.
The championship continues through Sunday's 36-hole final, with the winner earning invitations to play in the next U.S. Open, Masters and British Open. The U.S. Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
U.S. Amateur Match Play Event - Round One Andy Doeden (Fargo, N.D./TCU) def. Jay Morgan (Choctaw, Okla./Wake Forest) 2 and 1
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