After marathon opening-round matches on July 23, Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach and Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island made shorter work of their second-round opponents on July 24 in the U.S. Junior Amateur, at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
It was going to be a long day anyway.
Russell defeated Lucas Latimer of nearby Rockwall, Texas, 3 and 2 and Mawhinney routed Stuart Boulware of Fairway, Kan., 7 and 6 to earn third-round matches under the broiling Texas sun that has produced a heat index of more than 100 degrees.
Russell shot 4-under during his match and won with a birdie at the 16th hole. Mawhinney won four holes in a row from Nos. 2-5, all on birdies, led 7-up at the turn and won with a par at No. 12.
Russell will play Miguel Garcia of Mexico in his third-round match, beginning at 2:25 p.m., while Mawhinney faces Sohan Patel of Weston at 2:45 p.m. That will be a rematch of the FHSAA Class 2A state final last year when Patel beat Mawhinney by four shots to win the individual state title and deny Mawhinney a second championship in a row.
Fleming Island still won its second team title in a row.
If Russell wins his third-round match he will play the winner of a match between 15-year-old Chase Bauer of Gotha, a suburb of Orlando, and Luke Colton of Frisco, Texas, on the morning of July 25.
Mawhinney, if he wins, will play the winner between defending Junior Players champion Hamilton Coleman of Augusta, Ga., and Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala.
When could Miles Russell face Tyler Mawhinney?
If Russell and Mawhinney win their round of 16 matches on July 24 and then win again in the morning matches on July 25, they will play in the semifinals later that day.
How to watch U.S. Junior Amateur
Portions of the semifinal matches will be aired on Peacock on July 25 from 3-5 p.m. and a replay will be on Golf Channel from 7:30-9:30 p.m.
The championship match will be televised on Golf Channel July 26 from 3-5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Miles Russell, Tyler Mawhinney brave the heat to win second-round U.S. Junior Amateur matches
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
