CLEMSON, S.C. — Jacob Bridgeman defeated Jonathan Griz of Hilton Head, S.C. 1-up on Thursday morning to advance to the second round of the United States Amateur at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. Bridgeman now faces Bo Jin of Oklahoma State at 1:50 p.m.
Bridgeman, seeded eighth in the match play bracket, and Griz, seeded 57th, were tied after 13 holes when darkness suspended play on Wednesday evening. The two players returned to the course at 7:30 a.m. to play the final five holes. They tied holes 14-17, then Bridgeman won the par-four 18th with a par.
Griz is a 17-year-old high school student who has committed to Alabama. He won the South Carolina Amateur in 2020 at the age of 16, the youngest golfer to win that tournament.
Bridgeman won the 18th when he got up-and-down out of a greenside bunker to make par. “We both hit our drives into the rough,” said Bridgeman, who will be a senior at Clemson this year. “He hit his second shot to the false front and the ball rolled about 35 yards off the green. He hit his chip to 10 feet and I hit my bunker shot to five feet.” Griz missed his 10-footer for par then Bridgeman won the match by making the five footer.
It marked the second time this year Bridgeman has won an important match on the 18th hole. At the ACC Tournament in April in Atlanta he won the 18th hole to gain a 1-up victory over John Pak of Florida State, the number-one ranked player in the nation and winner of the Jack Nicklaus Award.
Bridgeman is now 4-0 this year in match play. He was 2-0 at the ACC Tournament playing for the Tigers, was 1-0 at the Palmer Cup and now 1-0 at the US Amateur.
Jin and Bridgeman are familiar with each other as they played together for five consecutive days at this tournament. “We played two practice rounds together, then we were paired together for the two rounds of stroke play.” The two rounds of stroke play took three days to play.
Jin is the Oklahoma State player to lost by one shot to Clemson’s Turk Pettit at the NCAA National Tournament in Arizona last May.
Jacob Bridgeman at United States Amateur
Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pa.
Aug. 9-11 Stroke Play
63-73/136 -4 T7th
Aug. 11-12 Match Play
