Michael Thorbjornsen has put his name in the deep record books kept at Glen View Golf Club in Golf, Illinois. In the second round of the Western Amateur, the Stanford freshman fired a bogey-free 8-under 62 at Glen View. No one has scored better in the club’s 124-year history.
Thorbjornsen came back on Thursday with rounds of 70-67 and now is safely on to the 16-man bracket with a stroke-play medal around his neck.
The double-round days continue from here.
Thorbjornsen, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, landed at 13 under after 72 holes of stroke play in what is often considered one of the most grueling amateur golf tournaments of the summer. That put him one shot ahead of David Ford, a three-time AJGA Invitational winner last year, and Walker Cupper Pierceson Coody, the 2020 Western Amateur champion.
The names of the 16 men still standing after four rounds makes for a distinguished list. It also includes Sunnehanna Amateur champion Trent Phillips, a senior at Georgia, plus Coody’s Walker Cup teammate Ricky Castillo.
Western Amateur: Match-play bracket
Beware of Castillo, the Florida junior, as this tournament wears on. He was undefeated at the Walker Cup in May and has advanced to the semifinals in each of his past two starts at the Western.
Pepperdine’s Joe Highsmith also made the bracket, as did Gordon Sargent, an incoming Vanderbilt player who advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur last week.
Four players tied at 6 under for the final two spots, and after a playoff, Johnny Keefer and Maxwell Moldovan claimed them. It’s a sweet bit of redemption for Moldovan, who recently won the Southern Amateur, after he found himself in the same situation at this tournament a year ago but failed to advance.
The Sweet 16 and quarterfinal rounds will be played on Friday with the semifinal and final rounds following on Saturday.
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