Max Buckley, 21, Rye, N.Y.
Defeated John Peterson, 19 holes
Buckley is a rising senior at Southern Methodist University, where he was a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-American Scholar in 2011. He posted three top-25 finishes during the 2010-11 season. His former SMU teammate Kelly Kraft also advanced to the quarterfinals.
Buckley won the 2011 Hochster Memorial Tournament and the 2007 Carter Cup, a junior stroke-play event conducted by the Metropolitan Golf Association (N.Y., N.J. and Conn.). He previously competed in the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur and 2009 Amateur.
Buckley, who was born in the United States, is a dual citizen with Australia.
Patrick Cantlay, 19, Los Alamitos, Calif.
Defeated Tom Lewis, 3 and 1
Cantlay had a stellar freshman season at UCLA, winning three collegiate events and being named Pac-10 Golfer of the Year, first-team All-American and first-team All-Pac-10. He was named the recipient of the Nicklaus Award, presented to the NCAA Division I player of the year and the Phil Mickelson Award, presented to the freshman of the year.
Cantlay continued his strong play into the summer. He was the low amateur at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, tying for 21st place. He shot a 60 in the second round of the Traveler’s Championship on the PGA Tour, which set the record for the lowest round in a PGA Tour event by an amateur and he finished 24th. He also had a top-25 finish at the AT&T National and finished ninth at the RBC Canadian Open. Cantlay won the 2011 SCGA Amateur in July. He will represent the United States at the 2011 Walker Cup Match in Scotland.
Prior to UCLA, Cantlay had an exceptional junior career highlighted by the 2010 U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay, where he reached the semifinals and lost to eventual champion Peter Uihlein. He also played in the 2009 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur. Cantlay was named High School Golfer of the Year by the Orange Country Register in 2009 and 2010 and won the 2008 Junior America’s Cup and Hogan Cup.
Kelly Kraft, 22, Dallas, Texas
Defeated Blake Biddle, 23 holes
Kraft is completing a successful summer, garnering victories at the Trans-Mississippi Championship and the Texas Amateur Championship. He had previously won the Texas Amateur in 2008. Kraft was also the runner-up at the 2010 North & South Amateur, losing in the finals to Donald Constable.
While at Southern Methodist University, Kraft earned first-team All-Conference USA honors in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He was also named to the PING All-American Honorable Mention Team in 2011, following seven top-five finishes in the season’s tournaments.
Jordan Russell, 22, College Station, Texas
Defeated Bobby Leopold, 19 holes
Russell is entering his senior season at Texas A&M University. He had a strong sophomore season for the Aggies, earning his first career victory at the 2010 Aggie Invitational on his home course, The Traditions Club. In 2011, Russell’s 9-under 63 en route to victory at the 2011 Topy Cup of Japan set a Texas A&M record, and he went on to finish third at the 2011 Big 12 Men’s Championship and receive Second-Team All-American honors from the GCAA. He was also named to the 2011 Academic All-Big 12 Team.
This summer, Russell tied for fourth at the Sunnehanna Amateur and ninth at the Players Amateur. He previously competed in the 2009 Amateur at Southern Hills C.C.
Patrick Rodgers, 18, Avon, Ind.
Defeated Sunil Jung, 4 and 3
It has been a strong year for Rodgers, who graduated from Avon (Ind.) H.S. in 2011. He rallied in the final round to win the Porter Cup in a playoff and also won the Western Junior. In addition, he has had a several top-five finishes, highlighted by runner-up finishes in the Players Amateur, Junior Invitational and Terra Cotta Invitational as well as a top 16 finish at the Western Amateur. He also had a fourth-place finish in the Northeast Amateur and a third-place finish at the Jones Cup Invitational. He will represent the United States at the 2011 Walker Cup Match in Scotland.
Rodgers won the Indiana State High School Championship as a junior in 2010 and is a two-time HP Scholastic All-American. He was named a First-Team Rolex Junior All-American in 2009 and 2010 and was Honorable Mention in 2008. Rodgers’ AJGA resume includes nine top-10 finishes and a win at the SAP Junior Open in 2009. He has played in three USGA championships, advancing to the round of 16 in the 2009 U.S. Junior, the round of 32 in the 2008 U.S. Junior and qualified for the 2010 U.S. Amateur.
Rodgers ranked third in his class at Avon High School out of 582 students. He has written blogs about his experiences in junior golf for Golfweek.com. Rodgers will play collegiate golf at Stanford this fall.
Jack Senior, 23, England
Defeated John Hahn, 3 and 2
In 2011, Senior won the Lytham Trophy, an amateur golf tournament founded by the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in his home country of England. He also won the New South Wales Amateur Championship in Australia. Senior claimed two major victories in 2010 – the South of England Amateur and Egyptian Amateur Open.
Senior was recently named to the Great Britain and Ireland Team at the 2011 Walker Cup Match.
Jordan Spieth, 18, Dallas, Texas
Defeated Ben Geyer, 7 and 5
Spieth joined Tiger Woods as the only players to have won multiple U.S. Junior Amateur titles in the 64-year history of the championship with his 6-and-5 win over Chelso Barrett on the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club on July 23. His first U.S. Junior Amateur title came in 2009 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
Spieth made the cut at the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Classic in 2010 and 2011 and was runner-up at the 2011 Jones Cup in Sea Island, Ga. He has international experience, having led the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team to victory with his undefeated record at the Gleneagles Resort in Scotland in 2010.
An accomplished junior, Spieth was the 2009 Rolex American Junior Golf Association Player of the year. His impressive AJGA resume includes five victories and 18 consecutive top-10 finishes. He will play golf at the University of Texas in the fall.
Peter Uihlein, 21, Orlando, Fla.
Defeated Scott Langley, 2 and 1
Uihlein is one of the most decorated amateur golfers in the United States, highlighted by his victory at the 2010 U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay (Wash.) over David Chung, 4 and 2.
His momentum carried into his junior season at Oklahoma State, where his strong play earned him the 2011 Ben Hogan Award, which is given by the Golf Coaches Association of America to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer on the basis of his performance in all collegiate and amateur competitions during a 12-month period. He was also named Big 12 Player of the Year and first-team All- Big 12. In his career at Oklahoma State, Uihlein has totaled five victories and has two top-three finishes at the NCAA Championship.
Uihlein played in the 2009 Walker Cup, where he had a 4-0 record, helped lead Team USA to victory and will represent the USA again in 2011. He also represented the United States at the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship.
In 2010, Uihlein won the Sahalee Players Championship and won his second Dixie Amateur. That same year, he also received the Mark H. McCormack Medal, which is presented by the R&A to the top-ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the end of the amateur season and following the European and U.S. Amateur Championships.
This summer, Uihlein won the Northeast Amateur by three strokes. Having won the U.S. Amateur, he gained exemption into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open Championship, making the cut and finishing T48 in the British Open and missing the cut in the other two.