Yaroslav Merkulov went into the Round of 64 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Tournament feeling good about himself after setting a Mid-Ams record in stroke play (36-holes), shooting 9-under-par (131) at Sankaty Head. It clinched him the number one seed and a matchup with 64th seeded Hayes Brown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Brown upset Merkulov by winning six holes to Merkulov’s five, with both golfers tying on the remaining seven holes.
Brown was able to birdie the 17th hole to take a one hole lead over Merkulov. The golfers both shot a par on the final hole. Brown was able to carry the momentum into the Round of 32 by soundly beating 33-seeded Sam Straka of Valdosta, Georgia by a score of five and four, meaning Brown had a five-hole lead over Straka with four holes left to play, clinching him an early victory and ending the match after the 14th hole.
Merkulov wasn’t the only golfer seeded in the top ten to be knocked out in the Round of 64.
Three seed Harvin Groft of Berwick, Maine lost to #62 seed Brady Shivers of Seminole, Texas 3 and 2. Number six seeded Daniel Campbell of Bellingham, Washington lost to #59 seed Nicholas Maccario of Haverhill, Massachusetts 2 and 1.
Number eight seeded Derek Busby of Choudrant, Louisiana beat #57 seed Colby Harwell of San Antonio, Texas by one hole. Then number nine seeded Jamie Miller lost to the #56 seed, Arnell Garza of Kennewick, Washington, 2 and 1.
Maccario was able to win his Round of 32 matchup against #38 seed Jay Moore of Lincoln, Nebraska 5 and 4. He is the only Massachusetts golfer remaining in the tournament. He is scheduled to tee off against #54 seed Brad Nurski of St. Joseph, Missouri today at 8:40 am.
Some upsets in the Round of 32 included #29 seed Stephen Behr Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia beating #4 seed Michael Muehr. Devon Hopkins, the #28 seed from South Africa, beat #5 seed Dan Walters of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Brett Viboch of Sacramento, California is the #26 seed and knocked off #7 seeded Andrew Paysse of Temple, Texas. Then Mark Costanza of Morristown, New Jersey who is the #23 seed defeated #10 Nathan Colson of Mequon, Wisconsin.
Garrett Rank of Canada is the #2 seed in the tournament and the only remaining golfer left standing from the tournament’s initial top 10 in the Round of 64. Rank is scheduled to tee off at 8:10 am against #15 Andrew Bailey of Cleveland, Ohio.
Today the Round of 16 and the Quarterfinals will take place. On Thursday the Semifinals will take place followed by the first 18 holes of the finals. The final 18 holes of the final match will take place on Friday.
Check out our new sports page on Instagram @nantucketcurrentsports for more updates on this tournament as they become available.
