University of Cincinnati rising senior Austin Squires (Union, Ky./Ryle High School) continued his run at the U.S. Amateur on Thursday evening outlasting Andrew Alligood of St. Johns, Florida, with a birdie on the 18th hole for a 1-up victory at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.
The win sets up a quarterfinals matchup with Viktor Hovland of Norway, on Friday at 6:15 p.m. ET. Follow the live scoring at USGA.org and watch live television coverage on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 7 p.m.
Hovland, who ranks fifth in the world amateur rankings, cruised to a 7 &6 victory over fellow Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan earlier in the day.
The late-round heroics were a common theme for Squires in posting a pair of match-play victories Thursday. Earlier in the day he birdied the 19th hole to upset the 45th-ranked amateur in the world, Luis Gagne of Costa Rica, by a 1-up result.
Both of Squires' matches were close throughout.
The Squires-Alligood match featured nine halved holes while the Squires-Gagne showdown saw eight halved holes. In both matches neither player enjoyed more than a 1-up lead during the round.
Alligood built a 1-up advantage three times in the afternoon with Squires finding a way to answer back each time. Squires earned his first lead by shooting par on the par-5 14th hole while Alligood took a bogey. After an Alligood birdie evened things up on the next hole, the match remained all square until Squires' birdie on No. 18.
Earlier Thursday, Squires, listed No. 148 in the world amateur rankings, owned a one-hole lead after birdieing the par-3 12th hole. But after five consecutive halved holes, Gagne caught Squires on the par-5 18th hole with a birdie to force additional play. That set up the Squires birdie on the 19th hole, securing the win.
In all, Squires carded seven birdies and 21 par scores in 37 holes of intense match-play competition.
// QUOTING SQUIRES
"Today was a very tiring day playing 37 holes of match play," Squires said. "My ball striking wasn't as good as usual, but my putter made up for it. I was able to make some tough putts that I don't normally make to halve or win holes.
"Going forward I'm going to keep doing what I have been doing. It's awesome to have gotten this far but I'm not done yet."
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