Eight Advance to Afternoon Rounds at 98th Met Junior Sponsored by MetLife
NEW CITY, N.Y. (July 15, 2015) - The first round of match play has finished at Paramount in the 98th Met Junior Sponsored by MetLife, where eight players have advanced to the afternoon’s play. Players were seeded based on their 36-hole stroke play finishes on Tuesday.
Despite being stroke play medalist, Brent Ito of Ardsley, N.Y., was defeated 2 & 1 by Jonathan Solimano of Montvale, N.J. Solimano, who is Paramount's Junior Club Champion, claimed the final match play position as part of a three-for-two playoff following Monday’s stroke play.
The competitors combined for nine birdies in the match, halving a pair of holes with birdies. While Ito brought the match to all square twice on the back nine, Solimano would answer each call by reclaiming the lead. Solimano birdied the par-4 16th before winning the match with a par on the par-5 17th.
Related: Bracket | Scoring | Photos
James Nicholas of Scarsdale, N.Y., and James McHugh of Rye, N.Y., notched the largest margins of victory to advance, winning by 5 & 4 and 5 & 3 margins, respectively.
Ethan Ng, who finished second in stroke play on Tuesday, claimed a 3 & 2 win over Christian Oakley of Southampton, N.Y. Ng, of New York City, advanced to the quarterfinals in last year’s Met Junior.
Chris Yeom of New Hyde Park, N.Y., and Bobby Diforio Jr. of White Plains, N.Y. each claimed 2 & 1 wins to also advance into the quarterfinals this afternoon.
One match went all the way to the 18th, as Jimmy Criscione of Paramus, N.J., logged a par on the par-3 18th to win 1-up.
Finally, Matthew Bettino of Bronxville, N.Y., advanced after his competitor withdrew from the competition.
Live hole-by-hole scoring is available for all four of the afternoon matches.
Play is scheduled to conclude on Thursday with both the semifinal and final matches.
