July 14, 2010

GREENSBORO, N.C. – South Carolina golfers George Bryan IV and Wesley Bryan made the cut of 64 players who will advance to the match play round at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship as 36 holes of stroke play concluded Wednesday morning. It is the third straight year for Wesley Bryan to earn a spot in the match play field.

George Bryan IV posted rounds of 69-67=136 (-6) to finish in sixth place and easily earn a berth in the match play round.. In his first round, he opened with a birdie at No. 10 and made two more along with two bogeys to make the turn at 1-under. He got to 3-under with a stretch of three straight birdies at 18, 1 and 2, then made his sixth of the day at No. 8 to close with a 2-under 69. Tuesday’s second round saw Bryan once again card six birdies, but only two bogeys as he posted a 4-under-par 67 to move into the tournament’s top 10.

Wesley Bryan, who advanced to the quarterfinals last year and earned fully exempt status into this year’s event, fought his way to a 74 (+3) in Monday’s opening round with two bogeys, a double-bogey and a birdie. But he posted six birdies – including all three of the par-5 holes – and offset four bogeys and a double-bogey to post an even-par 71. At 3-over-par 145, he was three strokes under the cut line and will participate in the Publinks match play round for the third straight year.

First-round matches were slated to begin late Wednesday morning after Tuesday’s second round of stroke play was suspended due to thunderstorms in the Greensboro area. George Bryan will face Chris Igawa – a Hilo, Hawaii, dentist – in the first round of match play beginning at 1:12 p.m. Igawa is the No. 59 seed, earning his spot in a 13-for-5 playoff early Wednesday morning. Wesley Bryan is the No. 42 seed and will face Cameron Peck, a rising sophomore at Texas A&M and the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur Champion, in a match that begins at 12:27 p.m.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links, established in 1922 for bona fide public-course players, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. It is open to all amateur golfers who, since Jan. 1, 2010, have not held privileges at any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public and who have a USGA handicap index not exceeding 4.4.

Fans can follow live scoring at usapl.org.