NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Patrick Tallent and Bryan Norton each won two matches Wednesday in the U.S. Senior Amateur to advance to the final at Big Canyon.
The 61-year-old Tallent, from Vienna, Virginia, beat Michael Turner of Sherman Oaks, California, 6 and 5 in the quarterfinals and topped Rick Cloninger of Fort Mill, South Carolina, 3 and 1 in the semifinals.
Tallent, the runner-up in 2010, survived a 15-for-13 playoff Monday to advance to match play in the event for players 55 and older. He played basketball at George Washington and was drafted by the Washington Bullets.
“This golf course is one that requires playing it to get to know these uphill shots and downhill shots,” Tallent said. “It’s a very local-knowledge type of golf course. At first, I said, ‘I don’t like the uphill shots.” Then I got to where I can tolerate them and now I’ve actually started to figure it out.”
Norton, a 55-year-old reinstated amateur from Overland Park, Kansas, beat Peter Wegmann of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals and edged Randal Lewis of Alma, Michigan, 2 and 1 in the semifinals
“When you’re playing somebody like Randy, who has a national reputation, you know they’re not going to make many mistakes,” Norton said. “Every day is so different. “I feel so happy that I’m going into tomorrow.”
Norton was the runner-up in the 2003 USGA Mid-Amateur Championship after having to concede because of a calf injury. The former Oral Roberts player won the Kansas Amateur in 1980, 2002 and 2014.
In the other quarterfinals, Cloninger beat Frank Dial of Auburn, Alabama, 3 and 2, and Lewis topped Jack Hall of Savannah, Georgia, 2 and 1.
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