Karl Vilips rebounds to claim his place in US Am match play field.
Karl Vilips in action today – image courtesy of USGA
US-based Australian, Karl Vilips, is the only one of the six Australasians who began the 36-hole strokeplay phase of the US Amateur Championship to finish inside the top 64 and advance to the knockout stage of amateur golf’s most significant event.
Vilips, who is currently attending Stanford University in California, bounced back from an opening round of 75 with a round of 68 today and at even par finished in a share of 50th place amongst the 312 players who teed it up on Monday.
Vilips, born in Indonesia but raised in Perth before leaving for the US to attend high school and college, is a former quarter-finalist in this event, having reached that stage at the 2019 version at Pinehurst and at the age of just 15 won the Southern Amateur Championship in 2017.
Tomorrow Vilips faces a tough task when he takes on the man who shared the strokeplay honours, Jackson Buchanan of Georgia.
Australians Tony Chen and Jeffrey Guan and New Zealand’s Australian Amateur Champion, Kazuma Kobori, finished one shot from making it into the match play stage of the event.
New Zealand’s Josh Bai missed by five shots, and Sydney’s Asia Pacific Amateur Champion Harrison Crowe missed by a massive nine shots.
