Medalist Moore and Winged Foot's Svoboda Lead List of U.S. Amateur Quarterfinalists

Mamaroneck, N.Y. - Medalist Ryan Moore, 21, of Puyallup, Wash., a two-time USGA champion, and four-time Winged Foot club champion Andy Svoboda, 24, of Stamford, Conn., each won two matches Thursday to head the list of eight players who advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur.

Andy Svoboda stayed alive by knocking off Tyler Docking, 3 and 2, in the third round. (John Mummert/USGA)

In the third round, Moore, a senior at Nevada-Las Vegas, won four of the last five holes to overcome a three-hole deficit to defeat Australia's Aron Price, 1 up, at Winged Foot's 7,266-yard West Course. Earlier this summer, Moore won the U.S. Amateur Public Links title for the second time. He has won six events since the spring, including the NCAA Division I individual title.

"It was a gift, it wasn't a win," said Moore, a 2003 USA Walker Cupper, who also won the 2004 Western Amateur. "That was a battle of who could last the longer out there and, fortunately, I lasted."

With the match in the balance on the 18^th, Moore two-putted from 45 feet after Price's approach found a greenside bunker and led to a bogey. Price, who won the Rice Planters and the Players Amateur in 2004, pitched almost off the green from the bunker to 15 feet from the hole but could not convert his ensuing chip for par.

Price, a senior at Georgia Southern, missed a four-foot putt to halve the 17^th and was matter-of-fact in his explanation.

"I got fooled by the wind coming in and I lost my concentration," Price said. "The weight is all on your shoulders when the tide turns like that."

Moore meets Jason Hartwick, 22, of Sacramento, Calif., the 2004 Big 12 Conference champion, in Friday's first quarterfinal.

Hale Irwin, who won the 1974 U.S. Open at Winged Foot's West Course, calls it the toughest course he's ever played. Svoboda, however, calls it home. He's played the course since he was 10 years old and is enjoying his most successful U.S. Amateur in his fourth appearance.

Svoboda, the 2004 Met Amateur winner and a semifinalist at the 2004 British Amateur, defeated Tyler Docking, 20, of Overland Park, Kan., 3 and 2. He meets Jeff Overton, the Big 10 Conference Player of the Year in the quarterfinals.

"It's just an incredible feeling to have all of my fellow members and a lot of my friends and such a huge gallery here at Winged Foot," said Svoboda. "I never dreamed of anything like this."

Danny Green, 47, the oldest remaining competitor, pulled off the upset of the day with a 2-up win over Spencer Levin, 20, of Elk Grove, Calif., in the third round. Green, who was runner-up at the 1989 Amateur and won the 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur, is playing in his 13^th Amateur.

"The golf course is getting firmer and firmer and firmer, which is to my liking," said Green, who has competed in nearly 40 USGA championships. "Once I got off to a decent start, I figured all the pressure was on Spencer. Everybody in the crowd thinks he's supposed to win. I play with a lot of guts and lot of heart."

Levin, one of the country's hottest amateurs with four victories this year as well as a tie for 13^th finish at the 2004 U.S. Open, bogeyed his last two holes.

"I just didn't play that well," said Levin, a junior at New Mexico. "I hate to lose, and, obviously, I'm not in a very good mood. But, you have to give Danny credit."

Up next for Green is Vanderbilt sophomore Luke List, 19, of Ringgold, Ga., who beat two-time Walker Cupper Trip Kuehne in the second round, and fellow collegian John Holmes, 2 and 1, in the third round.

In other third round play, Chris Nallen of Hackettstown, N.J., who played on the 2003 USA Walker Cup squad, defeated Chris Poling, 22, Delaware, Ohio, this year's NCAA Division III individual champion, 2 up. Nallen, the 2004 NCAA Division I runner-up, faces two-time Amateur Public Links finalist Dayton Rose of Midwest City, Okla. Rose went 20 holes to defeat Nick Cook, 22, of nearby Shelton, Conn.

All quarterfinalists are exempt from having to qualify for the 2005 U.S. Amateur. The semifinals are set for Saturday with the 36-hole final on Sunday.

The Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Mamaroneck, N.Y. - Results of Thursday's second and third rounds of match play at the U.S. Amateur Championship, at the 7,266-yard, par 35-35--70, West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club:

Second Round
Upper Bracket

Ryan Moore, Puyallup, Wash. (139) def. Gary Peterson, Rochester, Minn. (148), 6 and 4
Aron Price, Australia (149) def. Kevin Kisner, Aiken, S.C. (146), 2 and 1
Tim Hogarth, Northridge, Calif. (144) def. Terrence Miskell, New Braunfels, Texas (148), 1 up
Jason Hartwick, Sacramento, Calif. (144) def. Jeff Hood, Atascadero, Calif. (148), 4 and 3
Nicholas Thompson, Coral Springs, Fla. (148) def. Bronson La'Cassie, Australia (141), 3 and 2.
Jeff Overton, Evansville, Ind. (146) def. John Keller, Bayside, N.Y. (149), 5 and 4.
Andy Svoboda, Stamford, Conn. (143) def. Robert Keller, Temecula, Calif. (147), 6 and 5
Tyler Docking, Overland Park, Kan. (146) def. Madalitso Muthiya, Zambia (149), 20 holes

Lower Bracket

Nick Cook, Shelton, Conn. (140) def. Jordan Nasser, Anaheim Hills, Calif. (148), 1 up
Dayton Rose, Midwest City, Okla. (146) def. Brian Gillespie, Wayne, Pa. (149), 19 holes
Chad Poling, Delaware, Ohio (143) def. J.J. Jakovac, Napa, Calif. (147), 7 and 6
Chris Nallen, Hackettstown, N.J. (144) def. Anthony Kim, Norman, Okla. (147), 3 and 2
Danny Green, Jackson, Tenn. (148) def. James Allenby, Canada (150), 4 and 3
Spencer Levin, Elk Grove, Calif. (145) def. Frank Vana Jr., Worcester, Mass. (149), 2 and 1
Luke List, Ringgold, Ga. (143) def. Trip Kuehne, Dallas, Texas. (147), 2 and 1
John Holmes, Campbellsville, Ky. (144) def. Tom Glissmeyer, Colorado Springs, Colo. (149), 2 and 1

Third Round

Moore def. Price, 1 up
Hartwick def. Hogarth, 3 and 2
Overton def. Thompson, 3 and 2
Svoboda def. Docking, 3 and 2
Rose def. Cook, 20 holes
Nallen def. Poling, 2 up
Green def. Levin, 2 up
List def. Holmes, 2 and 1

Mamaroneck, N.Y. - Pairings for Friday's quarterfinal round of match play at the U.S. Amateur Championship, at the 7,266-yard, par 35-35--70, West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club: (times EDT)

12:15 p.m. - Ryan Moore, Puyallup, Wash. (139) vs. Jason Hartwick, Sacramento, Calif. (144)
12:30 p.m. - Jeff Overton, Evansville, Ind. (146) vs. Andy Svoboda, Stamford, Conn. (143)
12:45 p.m. - Dayton Rose, Midwest City, Okla. (146) vs. Chris Nallen, Hackettstown, N.J. (144)
1:00 p.m. - Danny Green, Jackson, Tenn. (148) vs. Luke List, Ringgold, Ga. (143)