Perico, Oliva Pinto Win Opening Match at U.S. Amateur
BANDON, Ore. – Julian Perico, the ninth seed, and Segundo Oliva Pinto, the 40th seed, each won their Round of 64 matches Wednesday at the USGA U.S. Amateur, played at Bandon Dunes.
Perico won four of the last seven holes played in his match with #56 seed Andres Schonbaum (Argentina) to claim a 3&2 victory. Oliva Pinto squared his match on the 17th hole and defeated #25 seed John Gough in 19 holes.
Perico will face #41 seed Tyler Strafaci (USA/Georgia Tech) in the Round of 32 Thursday starting at 9:30 am (CT) while Oliva Pinto will play #8 seed McClure Meissner (USA/SMU) starting at 9:20 am (CT). Should both Perico and Oliva Pinto win their Thursday morning matches, the Razorback teammates will meet in the Round of 16 later in the day Thursday.
Perico was familiar with his foe – Schonbaum, an Argentinian who played his collegiate golf at Jacksonville State (2009-13). Both have played in each of the last four Latin America Amateur Championships with Perico placing sixth this past January at the event and Schonbaum tying for 11th.
“I played just okay today,” Perico said. “Fortunately, I won my match. I will have to play better if I want to keep going in this tournament.”
Schonbaum got on the board early with a birdie on the par-4, 3rd hole. Perico bounced back to win the 4th hole to knot the match. However, Schonbaum regained the advantage by winning the 5th hole with a par. The pair tied the next four holes. Perico evened the match once again with a birdie on the par-4, 10th hole. The Lima, Peru, native then won the 13th and 14th holes to go up two with four holes remaining. The pair tied the 15th hole before Perico closed out the match by winning the 16th hole with a par.
Oliva Pinto needed extra holes to defeat Gough (England/Charlotte). Oliva Pinto jumped out a to a quick 3-Up lead with wins on the first three holes. Gough won holes 3 and 7. He went on to win holes 11 and 12 to tie the match then take a 1-Up advantage. The duo tied the next four holes and Oliva Pinto was down one with two holes to play. The Córdoba, Argentina, native won the 17th hole to square the match with a birdie on the 382-yard, par 4. Each golfer had a par on the 18th to force extra holes. The match moved back to the first hole and Oliva Pinto won the hole and match my making a 12-foot birdie putt on the 414-yard hole.
“It was a tough match,” Oliva Pinto said. “We made abut 12 birdies between both of us. It was a challenge that I enjoyed and conquered on the last hole.”
Remaining US Amateur Schedule
Thursday, Aug. 13 (Round of 32/Round of 16 matches)
Friday, Aug. 14 (Quarterfinal matches)
Saturday, Aug. 15 (Semifinal matches)
Sunday, Aug. 16 (36-hole championship match)
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