SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Walker Cup teammates Nathan Smith and Todd White advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball on Tuesday by beating a pair of California brothers.
Smith and White didn't lose a hole at Olympic Club in beating Jason Higton and Ryan Higton of Fresno in their quarterfinal match. They closed out the Higtons with a par on the 16th hole, 3 and 2.
Smith, a former U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, and the 47-year-old White next face a team of 18-year-olds in Austin Connelly and Sam Burns. They advanced with a 2-and-1 victory over Matthew Simmone and Cory Bacon.
In other matches:
- Sherrill Britt and Greg Earnhardt held off a late charge to win, 2 and 1, against Draegen Majors and Brooks Price.
- Scott Harvey and Todd Mitchell won the last three holes they played with birdies for a 3-and-2 win over Zach Atkinson and James Edmondson.
Edmondson is the caddie for PGA Tour player Ryan Palmer, who was in the Match Play Championship at Harding Park last week and is playing The Players Championship in Florida this week.
Harvey and Mitchell never led until a birdie on the 14th hole, and they birdied the next two to quickly close out the match.
The semifinals are Wednesday morning, followed by the championship match. The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball replaced the U.S. Amateur Public Links on the USGA calendar of championships.
Majors and Price earlier Tuesday knocked out Stanford teammates Maverick McNealey and Viraat Badhwar, who top team in 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying. Majors and Price took the lead with a birdie on the 17th, and they won on the 18th hole when both teams made birdie.
But they couldn't keep up against Britt, 49, and Earnhardt, 46, who went 3-up by winning all those holes with par. Majors and Price birdied the 14th and 15th to get within one, only for Britt and Earnhardt to birdie the par-5 16th and pull ahead. Both teams birdied the 17th to end the match.
