Temple resident and 2018 Belton High School graduate William Paysse advanced to the 64-player match play portion of the 121st U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. Texas A&M player Paysse had a 1-up lead through six holes Thursday against Notre Dame's Davis Chatfield of Attleboro, Massachusetts. However, Chatfield won the next four holes to go 3-up and then held off Paysse's late charge by making birdie on the 17th hole to complete his 2-and-1 victory. It was the second straight U.S. Am appearance for Paysse, who competed at Bandon Dunes in Oregon in 2020. (File photo by Greg Wille, TempleBeltonSports.com)
staff report
Temple resident and Belton High School graduate William Paysse advanced to match play competition in the 121st U.S. Amateur Championship, but the Texas A&M golfer's run ended Thursday afternoon with a 2-and-1 loss to Davis Chatfield in the Round of 64 at famed Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
Making his second consecutive U.S. Amateur appearance, the 21-year-old Paysse qualified for the 64-player match play field earlier this week by shooting a 1-over-par 141 total in stroke play – one round each at Longue Vue Club (70) and Oakmont (71), where the U.S. Open has been played nine times.
The No. 43-seeded Paysse was 1 down through four holes against the No. 22-seeded Chatfield, a Notre Dame player from Attleboro, Massachusetts. However, Paysse then won the fifth and sixth holes – both with birdies – to seize a 1-up lead that proved to be his only advantage in the round.
Chatfield responded by winning the next four holes, the first three with pars, to go 3-up through 10. Still 3-down with six holes remaining, Paysse won the next two holes with a birdie on the par-3 13th and a par at the par-4 14th to get back to 1-down with four holes left.
Paysse and Chatfield tied the next two holes. At the 313-yard par-4 17th, Chatfield found the fairway with his tee shot, hit his wedge approach shot close and made the 12-foot birdie putt to put the pressure on Paysse, whose drive came to rest in the greenside rough. The Aggie's deft pitch shot to the elevated green left him with a 5-foot putt for birdie. Needing to make the putt to extend Chatfield to the 18th hole, Paysse's putt slid just past the right edge.
In his Round of 32 match later Thursday, Chatfield was 1-up through 13 holes against No. 11 seed Alex Fitzpatrick of England when inclement weather pushed the remainder of their match into Friday. The event, which began with 312 players for two rounds of stroke-play qualifying, is scheduled to be completed Sunday.
Paysse, who's entering his fourth season with the Texas A&M golf program and is the world's No. 270-ranked amateur, also competed in the 2020 U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
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