CHASKA, Minn. — After a grueling Thursday at Hazeltine National Golf Club, the 2024 U.S. Amateur is down to eight golfers vying for the Havemeyer Trophy.
Morning showers and overcast conditions eventually turned to partly cloudy skies and a beautiful afternoon, and the longest day of the championship is in the books.
After Thursday morning's Round of 32, winners were back on the course in the afternoon battling in the Round of 16, and eight golfers punched their ticket into the quarterfinals, which begin Friday.
Among those advancing to the quarterfinals include the No. 64 seed (aka last man in the field), a collegiate national champion and more.
U.S. Amateur: Photos from Hazeltine National
Here's a look at all eight quarterfinalists at the U.S. Amateur, as well as Friday matchups and TV information.
No. 64 Ethan Fang
No No. 64 seed has won the U.S. Amateur before, let alone any USGA championship. Fang believes he can be the first. After knocking off the medalist on Wednesday, he won two matches Thursday, including his Round of 16 match against Bastien Amat, ranked 19th in the world.
Quotable: "Get some rest. You know, it's been a long two days. I'm pretty excited to get some rest, sleep in a little bit."
No. 41 Noah Kent
The rising junior at Iowa is ranked 560th in the world, but he was the first player to earn his spot in the semifinals after knocking off Garrett Engle 4 and 2. Kent led by as many as 5 up in his match. He was 13 shots better in the second round of stroke play to punch his ticket to match play.
Quotable: "Coming in, I played some good golf. Like it was really close to being really good. I won both my qualifiers, so I had like a lot of good momentum coming in. The first round was a big setback, but I kind of knew I was going to do well."
No. 20 Jacob Modleski
Modleski pulled off an upset to reach the quarterfinals, knocking out Omar Morales, who's ranked 14th in WAGR. Earlier in the day, he topped the European Amateur champion, Tommy Morrison, and now the rising sophom*ore is a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Amateur.
Quotable: "I think my game has been trending in the right direction all summer. It's getting to the point where things are falling into place, and I'm starting to see a lot of the shots I'm wanting, and it's evident in the scores and the matches."
No. 53 Jackson Buchanan
Buchanan started the day out with a bang, topping World No. 1 Luke Clanton 1 up in a match he said took a lot out of him. He clearly had enough for the afternoon, when he topped Canadian Amateur champion Tyler Mawhinney 1 up after birdies on his last two holes to earn his spot in the quarterfinals.
Quotable: "My practice rounds were atrocious. I just kind of threw it all out the window and then relied on my ability. Sometimes I'm not very confident in parts of my game, so I just kind of threw it out the window, started hitting it better. Birdied my last two to get into match play and just have kind of been riding that since."
No. 47 Jose Luis Ballester
Ballester, the rising senior at Arizona State, is the highest-ranked player remaining in the field at 10th. He knocked off Christian Brand, one of two mid-ams who made the Round of 16, to advance into the quarterfinals.
Quotable: “The 15th fairway is really uncomfortable for me. It’s hard for me to move the ball from right to left, my miss is very much a push fade. I had wind coming in from the left, too. It’s a hole where, honestly, I’m just aiming for the rough on the left, ripping it and playing from wherever I happen to end up.”
No. 23 Bobby Massa
Bobby Massa, the lone mid-am remaining in the field, buried a huge birdie putt on the 23rd hole to top Ashton McCulloch, the runner-up from the Canadian Amateur last week.
No. 3 Luis Masaveu
Masaveu, from Spain, is in Minnesota for the first time, but he's not playing like a stranger to the United States. He has dominated amateur events in Europe to get into the field this week via his WAGR ranking, and the World No. 23 is moving on after a 3-and-2 win Thursday afternoon.
Quotable: "I didn't really know what to expect. The conditions obviously, are very different from Europe. But, yeah, I'm just really, really happy."
No. 27 Brendan Valdes
Last year, there were two Auburn Tigers in the quarterfinals. This year, it's only Brendan Valdes, a rising senior who is no stranger to the U.S. Amateur, or USGA events, in his own right. He knocked off good friend, Peter Fountain, 3 and 2 on Thursday to move on.
Quotable: "I just feel like after a long summer of golf, I feel like lot of people are probably pretty wiped, and I feel like I'm able to kind of keep it going the whole time. So, I mean, for me, I feel like I get better and better throughout the summer."
Friday matchups
No. 64 Ethan Fang vs. No. 41 Noah Kent, 3:30 p.m. ET
No. 20 Jacob Modleski vs. No. 53 Jackson Buchanan, 3:45 p.m. ET
No. 47 Jose Luis Ballester vs. No. 23 Bobby Massa, 4 p.m. ET
No. 3 Luis Masaveu vs. No. 27 Brendan Valdes, 4:15 p.m. ET
TV information
Friday, Aug. 16: 5-6 p.m., Peaco*ck; 6-8 p.m., Golf ChannelSaturday, Aug. 17: 3-6 p.m., Golf ChannelSunday, Aug. 18: 2-5 p.m., Golf Channel
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Meet the quarterfinalists at the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National
