ATLANTA — The U.S. Amateur Championship won't have its first repeat winner since Tiger Woods. And Woods' status as the youngest champion survived a challenge, too.
Defending champ Jeff Quinney was stunned by former college teammate Brian Nosler, who won the final three holes for a 1-up victory Friday in the quarterfinals at East Lake Golf Club.
Seventeen-year-old Daniel Summerhays fell short in his bid to become the youngest winner in the tournament's 101-year history. The Farmington, Utah, teenager was eliminated 4 and 3 by Robert Hamilton of Carmichael, Calif.
"He deserves it, he's the better player," Summerhays said after the match ended on the 15th hole. "Just being here in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur is a dream come true for anybody, let alone a 17-year-old."
"Hey, I've got a few years on you," the 23-year-old Hamilton replied. "Just keep doing what you're doing."
While Summerhays failed in his bid to advance, BYU senior Manuel Merizalde easily won his match over Japan's Taichiro Kiyota with a 6 and 5 triumph and advanced to meet Hamilton this morning.
The 22-year-old from Colombia is trying to become the first foreign-born U.S. Amateur champion since Canada's Gary Cowan in 1971. If he defeats Hamilton today, Merizalde will get an invitation to the Masters, which invites both the champion and runner-up from the Amateur.
"The tournament that I have always thought about and the one that I've always wanted to win is the Masters," Merizalde said. "That's my dream."
The 36-hole final is Sunday.
Summerhays, the nephew of Senior PGA Tour player Bruce Summerhays, was even with Hamilton until No. 8. A pitching wedge from 115 yards wound up in a bunker, costing the teenager a bogey.
Hamilton won the ninth and 10th, too, to take control of the match. Summerhays didn't win another hole.
"I wish I could have played a little bit better," said Summerhays, who starts his senior year of high school Monday. "It's great to be here, but it's disappointing. You don't know how many chances you'll have to win it."
Just ask Hamilton. The University of California graduate is playing in his first USGA championship after failing six times to qualify for the Amateur and four times to make the U.S. Open.
"It's been a long road just to get here," he said.
Merizalde went 3-up after nine holes, then sank a 30-footer at No. 11 to extend his advantage and won No. 12 when his opponent bogeyed.
Nosler, 22, will meet Bubba Dickerson of Hilliard, Fla., in the semifinals Saturday. The 20-year-old Florida junior was a 1-up winner over Bermuda's Michael Sims.
Quinney went 2-up when Nosler bogeyed the 14th and kept the margin with a 20-footer to save par at the next hole.
But Quinney gave his opponent a glimmer of hope by hitting his next drive into a bunker and winding up with a bogey. Nosler two-putted from about 70 feet to win the hole.
Both players were superb with their first two shots at the 17th, leaving Quinney with a 10-foot birdie attempt and Nosler about 6 feet from the cup.
Quinney's ball nipped at the left edge of the hole before spinning past. Nosler sank his putt to square the match.
Nosler knocked his tee shot to the middle of the green on the par-3 final hole, putting the pressure on Quinney. The defending champ responded with a poor drive, the ball landing short of a bunker in the right rough.
Quinney chipped about 5 feet past the flag, but missed the putt to save par. Nosler two-putted to win the match, knocking in the clincher from about 4 feet.
"I haven't beat him much in the last four years," Nosler said. "It was really good to get this one. It means a lot to me."
Standing off the 18th green, where he missed a 5-foot putt that would have extended the match, Quinney announced the end of his amateur career. The Eugene, Ore., native will make his PGA Tour debut next week at the Air Canada Championship in Surrey, British Columbia.