TideSports.com - UA golfer reaches U.S. Amateur semifinals

August 17, 2012

Staff report

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. | University of Alabama golfer Justin Thomas continued his stellar play in the quarterfinals of the United States Amateur Championship on Friday morning with a 2-up win over Australia's Oliver Goss at the par-71, 7,409-yard Cherry Hills Country Club.

Thomas, from Goshen, Ky., becomes just the fifth Alabama golfer to advance into the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur.

Thomas joins a select group of Alabama greats, including Jerry Pate (1974 winner), Cecil Ingram (1980 semifinalist), Dicky Pride (1991 semifinalist) and Michael Thompson (2007 finalist).

"It was pretty back and forth," Thomas told USGA.com after the round. "He got up early, and then I won 7, 8 and 9, so that kind of gave me the momentum … It was a hard match. You're obviously not going to get any easy matches most likely at this point in the U.S. Amateur. It feels great to be moving on, and I'm very, very honored."

Thomas will face Michael Weaver in the semifinals, a junior at California from Fresno, Calif., who dispatched of Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal, 4 and 3 in their quarterfinal match on Friday.

Thomas got off to another slow start in his match with Goss on Friday, losing the first hole and finding himself down two after six holes.

Thomas responded by winning the seventh and eighth holes to square the match. Thomas then took his first lead by making par on the 491-yard par-4 ninth hole.

Goss won the 10th to even the match for the third time, but Thomas gave himself some cushion with birdies on the 11th and 12th holes to take a 2-up lead.

They halved the next four holes, but Goss won the 17th with bogey to get within one headed to the final hole. Thomas, a sophomore made par on the 18th while Goss, a freshman at Tennessee, missed his par putt to sqaure the match.

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