Steven Fox, 21, of Hendersonville, Tenn., No. 127 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Steven Fox is a rising senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He advancedto the round of 16 at the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
Fox is a two-time All-Southern Conference selection who made the All-Freshman team in 2010. He had four top-10s with three top-5s during his junior season, which included a tie for third at the NCAA Bowling Green Regional and a tie for fourth at the Southern Conference Championship.
In 2011, Fox won the Tennessee Golf Association (TGA) Match Play Championship. A year earlier, he was a semifinalist in the TGA Match Play Championship. In 2009, he finished tied for second at the 2009 Tennessee State Open.
Fox won his first match, 3 and 2, over Jeff Osberg of Philadelphia. In the round of 32, he defeated Douglas Hanzel of Savannah, Ga., 3 and 2. Fox won 2-up in his round of 16 match over Zack Munroe of Charlotte, N.C. He is one of two players to make the quarterfinals after surviving Tuesday’s 17-for-14 playoff to make the match-play bracket.
Fox is the son of Maureen and Alan Fox. He has one older sister, Ashley, and one younger sister, Kristen. Fox was born Jan. 14, 1991, in Greenville, S.C.
Oliver Goss, 18, of Australia, No. 38 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Oliver Goss will be an incoming freshman at the University of Tennessee this fall. This is his first USGA championship.
Goss won the 2012 Western Australia Amateur, both the stroke play and match play. He finished as runner-up at the 2012 Australian Amateur stroke play and 2012 Saujana Amateur.
Also in 2012, he tied for eighth at the Master of Amateurs and finished fifth at the Malaysian Amateur.
Goss won his first match at the U.S. Amateur over Eli Cole of Los Angeles, 3 and 1. In the round of 32, he won in 20 holes over Michael Miller of Brewster, N.Y. He defeated mid-amateur Bobby Leopold of Cranston, R.I., 2 and 1, in the round of 16.
Goss is the son of Paula and Darren Goss. He has one brother, Charlie, 16. Goss was born April 12, 1994.
Ricardo Gouveia, 21, of Portugal, No. 41 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Ricardo Gouveia is a rising junior at the University of Central Florida. He is playing in his first USGA championship.
In 2012, he made it to the round of 16 at the British Amateur Championship.
Gouveia, a PING and Golfweek All-American, played as an individual at the 2012 NCAA Championship. He was named the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year in 2012.
Prior to UCF, he was a Division II PING All-American at Lynn University. He earned the 2010 Phil Mickelson Award as the outstanding freshman golfer in Division II, and was named the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year. He won medalist honors at the Rollins College Invitational.
Gouveia won 4 and 3 over Eric Frazzetta of Long Beach, Calif., in the round of 64. In the round of 32, he defeated Patrick Duncan Jr. of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 4 and 3. Gouveia won 6 and 4 over Devon Purser of Clearfield, Utah, in the round of 16.
Gouveia is the son of Teresa and Tomas Gouveia. He has two brothers, Tomas and Antonio, and one sister, Teresa. He was born Aug. 6, 1991 in Portugal.
Brandon Hagy, 21, of Westlake Village, Calif., No. 60 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Brandon Hagy, a rising junior at the University of California at Berkeley, is playing in his first USGA championship. He won the 2011 New Year’s Invitational and the 2011 San Francisco City Championship.
Hagy tied for eighth at the Sunnehanna Amateur and tied for third at the Northeast Amateur in the summer of 2012.
A 2012 Pacific-12 Conference All-Academic First-Team member, Hagy tied for third at the NCAA West Regional and tied for fifth at the Pac-12 Championships during his sophomore year as a Golden Bear.
Hagy defeated Denny McCarthy of Rockville, Md., in 19 holes in the round of 64. In his second match, he defeated Paul Misko of Thousand Oaks, Calif., 5 and 4. He went on to defeat Patrick Newcomb of Benton, Ky., 3 and 2.
Hagy is the son of Karyn and Rick Hagy. He has one younger brother, Brett. He was born March 21, 1991, in Santa Monica.
Cheng-Tsung Pan, 20, of Chinese Taipei, No. 21 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Cheng-Tsung Pan, a rising sophomore at the University of Washington, was a first team All-Pacific-12 Conference selection, a second team PING All-American and a NGCA All-Freshman Team member in 2012. Pan was also a semifinalist for the 2012 Ben Hogan Award.
Pan, who played in the 2011 U.S. Open, had six top-10 finishes in his freshman year, including a win at the Prestige at PGA West in his second collegiate event. His stroke average of 71.29, as a freshman, is ranked 8th all-time and second-best by a freshman in program history.
In 2011, he was the Azalea Amateur champion and was runner-up in the Sahalee Players Championship. He was the 2009 and 2010 Western Amateur stroke-play medalist, becoming the first player to earn consecutive medalist honors since 2004.
At the age of 15, he became the youngest U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist since Bobby Jones in 2007. Pan played in the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur and made it to the round of 16. He played in the 2010 U.S. Amateur, losing to eventual champion, Peter Uihlein, in the first round.
Pan, who has played in five of the last six U.S. Amateurs, defeated Evan Bowser of Dearborn, Mich., 4 and 3 in the first round. In the round of 32, he defeated Gavin Green of Malaysia, 3 and 1. He won 2-up over Andrew Presley of Fort Worth, Texas, in the round of 16.
Pan was born Nov. 12, 1991, and has four sisters and one brother.
Justin Thomas, 19, Goshen, Ky., No. 5 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Justin Thomas won both the 2012 Haskins Award, and the 2012 Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer, as well as the 2012 Phil Mickelson Award, for the outstanding freshman in Division I men’s golf at the University of Alabama. He was named a Golfweek, PING and NGCA All-American.
The Southeastern Conference Player and Freshman of the Year, won the 2011 Carpet Capital Collegiate, 2012 Puerto Rico Classic, 2012 SEC Championships and the 2012 NCAA Athens Regional. He won the first collegiate event that he played in (2011 Carpet Capital Collegiate). A member of the 2012 USA Palmer Cup team, he finished in the top 10 eight times in 11 events for the Tide.
He is the third-youngest player to make a PGA Tour cut at the 2009 Wyndham Championship at 16 years, 3 months and 24 days old. He played in the 2012 PGA Tour Greenbrier Classic and finished tied for 46th.
Thomas was the runner-up to Jim Liu at the 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Egypt Valley Country Club. He made it to the round of 32 at the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Amateurs.
Thomas won his first-round match against Barry Dyche of Charlotte, N.C., 3 and 1. In his second match, he defeated Max Homa of Valencia, Calif., 3 and 1. Thomas won his round of 16 match by defeating his University of Alabama teammate, Bobby Wyatt, 1-up.
Thomas is the son of Mike and Janice Thomas. He was born April 29, 1993, in Goshen, Ky.
Michael Weaver, 21, of Fresno, Calif. No. 149 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Michael Weaver will be a redshirt junior at the University of California at Berkeley. He played in the 2011 U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills.
Weaver redshirted during the 2011-2012 season at the University of California because he wanted to gain admission into the Haas School of Business. As a sophomore, he earned PING All-America honors. Weaver tied for eighth at the 2011 NCAA Championships.
He was the U.S. Amateur sectional qualifying medalist in 2011 and 2012. Weaver won the 2011 Alameda Commuters, and was runner-up at the 2012 NCGA Amateur Championship. In 2012, he won a Monday qualifier at the Web.com Tour’s TPC Stonebrae Championship.
Weaver defeated Zac Blair of Odgen, Utah, 2 and 1, in the round of 64. He went on to defeat 2011 USA Walker Cup team member, Patrick Rodgers of Avon, Ind., 3 and 2 in the second round. Finally, he won in 19 holes over Albin Choi of Canada.
Weaver is the son of Joanne and Bill Weaver. He has one sister, Lauren. Weaver was born on April 12, 1991.
Chris Williams, 21, Moscow, Idaho, No. 1 World Amateur Golf Ranking (week of Aug. 12)
Chris Williams, a senior at the University of Washington and a member of the 2011 USA Walker Cup Team, won the 2012 Western Amateur and the 2012 NCAA Southwest Regional.
In 2011 and 2012, he earned first-team All-America honors. In 2012, he was a first-team all-Pacific-12 Conference selection. In 2011, he earned first-team all-Pac-10 honors. He was a second-team all-Pac-10 choice in 2010.
Among his other amateur tournament victories are the 2011 Sahalee Players Amateur Championship, the 2011 Pacific Coast Amateur, the 2011 Duck Invitational, the 2011 Bandon Dunes Collegiate, the 2011 Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational, the 2010 Arizona State Thunderbird, the 2010 Battle of the Beach, and he was second at the 2010 NCAA West Regional (including a final-round 65).
Williams played in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club but missed the cut. He lost in the quarterfinals of the 2010 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship to eventual champion Lion Kim.
In 2010, he won the Phil Mickelson Award as the NCAA Freshman of the Year and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year while earning third-team All-America honors. He was a member of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 USA Palmer Cup teams.
Williams won his first-round match against Peter Williamson of Hanover, N.H., 3 and 2. In the round of 32, he won 5 and 3 over Adam Stephenson of Greenville, N.C. In the round of 16, he defeated Edouard Espana of France, 5 and 3.
Williams is the son of Linda and Varnel Williams and was born June 21, 1991. He has two brothers, Pete, who was a professional golfer in 2006-2008, and Jeff, who played ice hockey at the University of Idaho, and a sister, Julie.