Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island was getting uncomfortably close to the projected cut for match play in the second round of the U.S. Junior Amateur on July 22.
But the rising senior at Fleming Island High School and Vanderbilt commit birdied three of his last five holes at the Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas and, at even-par 141, reserved a spot in the field of 64 players who will begin match play on July 23 at the Trinity Forest Golf Club.
Mawhinney (73) tied for 24th after dipping as low as a tie for 36th and joins Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach (72 at Brook Hollow) in match play. Russell shot 2-under 139 to tie for eighth.
Russell will play Jackson Ormond, a resident of Webster, N.Y., who has verbally committed to the University of Florida, at 9:40 a.m. on July 23. Russell committed to Florida State on June 30.
Mawhinney’s first match will be against Lapossapon Heras-Gomez of Thailand, beginning at 11:10 a.m.
Tyler Mawhinney has rough start
Mawhinney, who shot 68 in the first round at Trinity Forest, began his round at Brook Hollow on the 10th hole, was 5-over for the day and 2-over for the tournament through his first 12 holes. He parred the par-3 fourth hole, then got his first birdie of the day on a 6-foot putt at No. 5
Mawhinney then drained a 27-footer for birdie on the next hole, and bounced back from a bogey at No. 7 with a closing birdie, on a roll of 23 feet.
Mawhinney already has one USGA national championship this season. He and future Vanderbilt teammate Will Hartman won the U.S. Amateur Four Ball on May 22.
Russell, who shot 67 in the first round, was 2-over through five holes in the second, then stopped the bleeding with a birdie at the par-3 eighth hole.
He bogeyed Nos. 11 and 13 but played his final five holes at 1-under with no additional blemishes on the card, with a birdie at the 615-yard, par-5 15th.
Four other area players failed to qualify for match play: Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach and Jackson Byrd of St. Simons Island, Ga., (7-over, tied for 105th), Lucas Gimenez of Jacksonville (11-over, tied for 166th) and Brady Dougan in St. Johns (15-over, tied for 212th.
Did Charlie Woods qualify for match play?
Charlie Woods, the son of 15-time major champion and two-time Players champion Tiger Woods improved on his first-round 81 at Brook Hollow but his 74 in the second round at Trinity Forest wasn’t nearly enough and he finished at 14-over-par 155 and in a tie for 196th.
Tiger Woods followed his son all 18 holes for the second day in a row. Woods won the U.S. Junior Amateur three times, then added three U.S. Amateur titles and three U.S. Opens for nine USGA championships in his career.
Among Charlie Woods’ next appearances is scheduled to be the Junior Players Championship, Aug. 28-31, at the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course, where his father won the 2001 and 2013 Players Championships, as well as the 1994 U.S. Amateur.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tyler Mawhinney rallies on back nine to reserve a spot in U.S. Junior Amateur match play
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
