TRUCKEE, Calif. | Spencer Painton survived a playoff Tuesday to advance to the match play portion of the 66th annual U.S. Junior Amateur Championship golf tournament.
In the second round of stroke play at the Martis Camp Club, the Regis Jesuit High School senior-to-be shot a 1-under-par 71 — nine shots better than his opening 80 Monday — to finish at 151, where 12 players tied for eight spots among the 64 to qualify for match play.
Playing in the third playoff group, Painton birdied the par-3 hole No. 17 to earn his spot in match play, while six others also moved on. A four-man playoff resumes at 8:30 a.m. MT Wednesday for the final spot in match play, which begins at 9:30 a.m. MT.
Painton is paired with Scottie Scheffler of Dallas, Texas — who finished third in stroke play with a two-round total of 139 — with a 1:06 p.m. tee time.
Castle Rock’s Josh Seiple, also among the 165 qualifiers from across the U.S., plus Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, England, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, made the cut at 146.
Jake Kelley — Painton’s teammate on a Regis Jesuit team that will shoot for a fourth straight Class 5A state championship in the fall — came up one stroke short of making the playoff at 152. Kelley shot a 75 on Tuesday, following a 77 in the opening round.
Match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur runs Wednesday through Saturday, when the individual champion is crowned.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
