Eric Lee nips Miles Russell 1-up in U.S. Amateur quarterfinals

Russell rallies from early two-down deficit and falls in the quarterfinals in his second USGA national championship this summer

• 16-year-old Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach lost a close match in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur.
• This is Russell’s second quarterfinal loss in a USGA national championship this summer.
• Lee will face Mason Howell in the semifinals, while the other semifinal will feature Niall Shiels Donegan and Jackson Herrington.

Miles Russell didn’t make a birdie until the 17th hole on Aug. 15 in his quarterfinal match of the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club Lake Course.

But the 16-year-old from Jacksonville Beach with a mental game beyond his years was still very much in the match, 1-down against Oklahoma State junior Eric Lee — especially since Lee was in deep rough on the right, seemingly blocked out by two trees while Russell hit a perfect drive in the fairway and had only 103 yards to the middle of the green.

What happened next was a simple matter of the quirks of match play.

Lee miraculously found the green with a sliced pitching wedge and three-putted for bogey and Russell knocked his wedge shot over the green and into deep rough, eventually leading to a bogey when he needed par to extend the match.

Lee won 1-up after an exhausting day for both that ended in waning daylight and falling temperatures by the San Francisco Bay. He will play 18-year-old Mason Howell of Thomasville, Ga., who beat John Daly II 1-up with a par at the last.

Russell has now been denied in the quarterfinals of a USGA national championship for the second time this summer. He was one victory away from the semifinals of the U.S. Junior in Dallas before falling 4 and 3 to Luke Colton.

However, Russell gave Lee, the player who clinched the national championship for the Cowboys with a singles victory over Virginia’s Josh Duanganamee, all he could handle.

Miles Russell rallied from two-down deficit

Russell lost the first hole and was 2-down through eight before winning the ninth and 10th holes with pars to even the match. 

He then won the 12th hole with a par to go 1-up but Lee rebounded to win Nos. 13 and 14 with pars to regain the lead. 

Both players two-putted the par-3 15th hole for par, and then both parred the 16th, the first of back-to-back par-5 holes at the Lake Course.  

Russell’s drive found a fairway bunker on the right and he was unable to do much more than pitch out about 100 yards. With a third shot of more than 200 yards, Russell hit into a front-right bunker but got out to within 4 feet and made the par putt. 

In the meantime, Lee hit the fairway and his second shot was just short of the green. He pitched on to 10 feet but missed for birdie and a chance to go two holes up with two to play. 

Miles Russell and Eric Lee both birdie No. 17 — again 

Russell found the fairway at the par-5 17th hole and Lee was in on the edge of the first cut of rough. With 236 yards to the hole, Russell put his second shot in the right rough, while Lee, with 234 to the middle, found the left rough, tight to the pin. 

Russell pitched 12 feet past the hole, but for the second day in a row, Lee hit a marvelous chip to within inches of the hole. Lee chipped in for a birdie in his round of 16 match against Duangamanee and won 2-up. 

Undaunted, Russell dropped his putt for birdie to match Lee to take the match to the 18th hole. Russell also staged his own brand of heroics on the 17th hole the previous day, making a fast-breaking 25-foot birdie putt to beat Manath Chirrivura 2 and 1. 

Miles Russell’s fortunes rose, then fell at No. 18

It appeared to be advantage, Russell when he split the fairway at the 18th while Lee smothered his drive to the right. Golf Channel announcer Colt Knost pronounced on the air that Lee had no chance to reach the green but Lee, 124 yards from the hole, purposely put a big slice with a wedge shot, with the ball bounding onto the green, 30 feet from the hole.

Russell then overcooked his wedge from the fairway, with the ball landing on an embankment behind the hole.

Advantage, Lee?

Not yet.

Eric Lee wins with a three-putt

Lee knocked his first putt 6 feet past the hole, while Russell pitched out to 8 feet past the hole. Russell missed the par attempt and Lee had two putts to win.

He did it but not without more drama. He hit his par attempt 4 feet past the cup and had to make that to end the match.

What happened in the other U.S. Amateur quarterfinals?

Niall Shiels Donegan, a native of Scotland whose family lives 30 minutes from the Olympic Club, defeated Jacob Modleski of Noblesville, Ind., in 20 holes and will play Jackson Herrington of Dickson, Tenn., a rising sophomore at the University of Tennessee, in the semifinals.

Donegan played two years at Northwestern and has transferred to North Carolina.

Herrington derailed Jimmy Abdo’s improbable run through the bracket with a 4 and 2 victory. 

Abdo, 4,292nd on the World Amateur Rankings and a member of the NCAA Division III Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, needed a playoff to reach match play and then won three matches, two by 1-up scores. 

Herrington won three of the last four holes, two on birdies.

How to watch the U.S. Amateur on TV 

• Aug. 16: Semifinals, Golf Channel, 3-6 p.m.
• Aug. 17: Championship match, Golf Channel, 7-10 p.m.

Watch the U.S. Amateur on Fubo