Vandalia native Greaser advances to U.S. Amateur semifinals

Greaser, 20, defeated Georgia Tech’s Ross Steelman 2 and 1 Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals after dispatching Clemson’s Jacob Bridgeman 6 and 4 on Friday morning in the Round of 16,

Against Steelman, Greaser won the first three holes and led from start to finish. Steelman birdied the par-3, 13th hole to trim Greaser’s margin to 1-up. After the players halved Nos. 14 and 15, Greaser won the par-3 16th to go 2-up then closed out the match on the 17th.

In the win over Bridgeman, the match was tied through the first five holes before Greaser won six of the next nine holes for a runaway win.

Greaser shot 1-under-par 139 to tie for 20th in the stroke-play portion of the tournament earlier this week. The low 64 players advanced to match play.

He opened match play with a 2 and 1 win over University of Tennessee assistant golf coach Bo Andrews. Greaser topped Canada’s Xavier Marcoux 3 and 2 in the Round of 32.

Greaser, a junior at North Carolina, won the 2020 Ohio Amateur by eight shots with an 18-under-par total. He reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2019. Earlier this summer he advanced to the semifinals of the Western Amateur.

Credit: UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Credit: UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

In two seasons with the Tarheels, he has seven top-10 finishes and five top-five finishes. His stroke average of 71.67 is on pace to the second lowest in UNC history.

At Butler, Greaser was a two-time all-conference player in the Greater Western Ohio Conference and the player of the year.

The semifinal matches will be broadcast from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday on Golf Channel and from 4-6 p.m. on NBC. The 36-hole final is scheduled for Sunday.

Past U.S. Amateur winners features a who’s who of golf, including Francis Ouimet, Chick Evans, Bobby Johnson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Deane Beman, Lanny Wadklins, Craig Stadler, Mark O’Meara, Hal Sutton, Jay Sigel, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Bryson DeChambeau.