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SPORTS
Kinker shoots a 75 in final U.S. Am qualifying round
VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. -- Nathan Kinker of Barboursville shot a 5-over-par 75 Tuesday in the second round of qualifying in the 108th U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club.
Kinker, playing on the resort's No. 4 course, recorded nine pars, seven bogeys and two birdies. He had a two-day total of 153. It took a score of 145 to make it to match play.
The Marshall golfer, who was playing in his first U.S. Amateur, now prepares for the Thundering Herd's fall season which begins Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in the Rutherford Intercollegiate at Nemacolin Woods Resort in Farmington, Pa. Penn State is host.
Robbie Fillmore, 22, of Provo, Utah, shot a 5-under 65 on the No. 4 course Tuesday to win medalist honors by two strokes. A first-team all-Mountain West Conference selection at Brigham Young University, Fillmore logged one eagle and four birdies against a sole bogey for a 36-hole total of 6-under 134.
His 65 is the lowest score of the stroke play portion of the championship.
His eagle came on the 447-yard, par-4 fifth when a 6-iron shot from 178 yards took one bounce and rolled into the hole.
"The goal was to make match play," Fillmore said. "To shoot 65 makes it that much better. I feel really good about the way I've been playing."
His 36-hole medalist score tied (with three others) for the second-lowest in Amateur history. Hank Kim shot 132 in 1994 for the lowest medalist score.
Wesley Bryan of Chapin, S.C., is second at 136. He plays at South Carolina. The oldest player to advance to match play is 52-year-old Brady Exber of Las Vegas, Nev., who finished at 142.
Match play begins today on the No. 2 course after 26 players head out at 7:30 a.m. for a playoff to determine the final two qualifiers. The 26 competitors in the playoff is the second most in Amateur history, eclipsed only by the 31 players in 1988. The tournament wraps up Sunday with a 36-hole final.
