THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) Qualifying medalists Sam Horsfield and Sean Crocker won their opening matches Wednesday in the U.S. Junior Amateur at The Club at Carlton Woods.
The 17-year-old Horsfield, from England, routed David Laskin of Elk Grove, California, 5 and 4 on the Nicklaus Course, and the 17-year-old Crocker, from Zimbabwe, beat Dylan McCabe of Sioux City, Iowa, 1 up.
Crocker won the 16th and 17th to pull even and won with a par on 18 after McCabe three-putted for bogey.
''I slowed myself down on 16, got a chance to get some food, grab a drink and take as much time as I could to relax myself,'' Crocker said. ''Dylan was such a great competitor. The whole match, even if I got up a hole, he was always right there. Every kid that makes match play is one of the top 64 juniors in the country.''
On Thursday, Horsfield will face South Korea's Won Jun Lee, and Crocker will play John Augenstein of Owensboro, Kentucky. Lee topped John Mancinotti of Toledo, Ohio, 4 and 3, and Augenstein beat Keenan Huskey of Greenville, South Carolina, 1 up.
