By John Strege
U.S. Amateur champion Doc Redman and runner-up Doug Ghim both were named to the 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team that will face a Great Britain & Ireland team at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course, Sept. 9-10.

USGA president Diana Murphy made the announcement in the immediate aftermath of Redman’s victory over Ghim on the 37th hole of the Amateur at Riviera Country Club.

RELATED: Doc Redman rallies to win ‘an incredible match’

Joining Redman and Ghim are Maverick McNealy, Stewart Hagestad, Braden Thornberry, Norman Xiong, Cameron Champ, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris.

McNealy is No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and the only player on the U.S. roster with previous Walker Cup experience. Thornberry is No. 3 in the world after winning the NCAA individual title and the Sunnehanna Amateur this summer. Hagestad is the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who in April became the first Mid-Amateur champion to make the cut in the Masters.

The captain is Spider Miller.

“It’s a committee decision,” he said, “but the committee has always held a spot for our current U.S. Amateur champion. But Doc went out and earned that spot, and I’m very proud of him. I’m looking forward to a great competition. I have a wonderful team and I’m very excited.”

Missing from the U.S. team was a second mid-amateur representative, with Scott Harvey believed to be on the short list for the team. Also on the outside looking in was LSU’s Sam Burns, college golf’s Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year honoree in June who announced he would turn pro in September in hopes of still having a chance to play on the U.S. team; Oklahoma’s Brad Dalke, the 2016 U.S. Amateur runner-up, Illinois’ Dylan Meyer, who won the 2016 Western Amateur, was a semifinalist at 2016 U.S. Amateur and is currently ranked No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

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By John Strege
Match play promises nothing, least of all that the two best players meet in the final, so it will have to suffice that Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Braden Thornberry served up a dramatic opening act in the U.S. Amateur on Wednesday.

It came down to the 18th hole, as anyone would have scripted a match between the Nos. 1 and 3 in the World Amateur Ranking. The third-ranked Thornberry, on a roll that suggests he’s underrated at No. 3, prevailed, 2 up, at the Riviera Country Club to advance to the round of 32 on Thursday.

“Kind of unfortunate for two of the higher ranked players to play each other in the first round, but you got to do it at some point,” Thornberry said. “Today was definitely a step in the right direction. The course was playing hard today and I played well, so hopefully I can carry that momentum over.”

Neither player was ahead by more than a single hole through the first 17 holes. Thornberry won the 12th hole to pull even and the 13th hole to take a lead. He won by holing a 25-foot downhill birdie putt at the 18th hole.

Thornberry, 20, won the NCAA individual championship earlier this summer as a Mississippi sophomore and was awarded the Haskins Award as the outstanding college player. Neither, incidentally, was the most impressive moment of the year.

In June, Thornberry, playing on a sponsor exemption, tied for fourth in the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Classic. Later, he also won the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur.

Niemann had made it to the round of 16 in the U.S. Amateur a year ago, tied for 29th in the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic, has won two professional events, and was No. 1 in the World Amateur Ranking.

Meanwhile, Maverick McNealy, No. 2 in the ranking, bowed out in the first round, losing to Connor Syme of Scotland, 2 & 1.

“I played very, very solid and tried not to give him much,” Syme said. “I always thought he was going to come back at me, which he did. He never gave me anything on the back nine. Even when he made bogey on 16, I still had to massively work for it. It was obviously a very difficult match, but I’m absolutely delighted to get through to the next round.”

McNealy’s goal now is a rematch in the Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club next month, provided both are on their respective teams.

“I’m leaving here with a little bitter taste in my mouth,” McNealy said. “I could have done a lot better than I did. But that’s only motivation to work hard.

“I’m still very confident in my game. I think I’ve seen flashes that I haven’t seen for a long time in my game this week. It’s just been trending the right way. I think for the last nine or 12 months I felt like my game has been very close but I just haven’t quite had that event or round or shot that kind of breaks me through. So I’m looking forward to hopefully getting a chance in two weeks and maybe get something going there.”

The medalist Hayden Wood, meanwhile, handily defeated Chris Crisologo of Canada, 4 & 3. Wood, son of former U.S. Junior Amateur champion and PGA Tour player Willie Wood, won three straight holes, 12 through 14, with pars.

Complete results can be found here.

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Wood, whose father is a former U.S. Junior Amateur champion, completed 36 holes at nine-under par 131, a 36-hole qualifying record, eclipsing the record of 132, set by Hank Kim at the TPC Sawgrass in 1994. Wood followed an opening-round 64 at Riviera Country Club on Monday with a three-under 67 at Bel-Air on Tuesday. He finished three strokes ahead of runner-up, Norman Xiong, the recent Western Amateur winner.

Wood is a junior at Oklahoma State, the university his father also attended.

Xiong, who like Wood opened with a six-under 64 at Riviera on Monday, shot an even-par 70 at Bel-Air.

Among those advancing to match play that begins Wednesday at Riviera Country Club was Joaquin Niemann of Chile, who is No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Niemann, who reached the round of 16 in the Amateur a year ago and tied for 29th in the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic earlier this summer, shot a 69 at Bel-Air and tied for sixth in medal play.

Maverick McNealy, No. 2 in the World Amateur Ranking, had a three-under 67 at Bel-Air, tied for 16th, and advanced to match play.

Among those who did not advance was Stewart Hagestad, the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who in April became the first Mid-Am champion to make the cut in the Masters. Hagestad, who had his clubs stolen 10 days earlier, shot 74 at Bel-Air and missed advancing by two strokes.

Thirteen players tied for the final eight spots for the 64-player match play field, including Braden Thornberry, and will play off Wednesday morning at 7:30 (PDT). Thornberry is No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and tied for fourth in the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Classic in June.

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