Perth’s Min Woo Lee bowed out in the quarter-finals as Australia’s promising early charge ground to a halt at the Western Amateur.
Lee fell 2&1 in the quarter-final to eventual finalist Doc Redman, who would himself later succumb to American compatriot, medallist and champion Norman Xiong in an epic 22-hole decider.
Lee, who’d won through to the final 16 as the first successful player in a four-for-three playoff, was superb in his first match, taking down Nick Hardy 7&6.
The Royal Fremantle member couldn’t repeat that victory despite playing well again in his quarter-final, including five birdies in six holes, mid-round.
But Redman stuck to the task and was six under par when they shook hands on the 17th green after a memorable match at the superb Skokie Golf Club in Glencoe, Illinois.
Earlier, Dylan Perry couldn’t recover from some early trouble and fell 5&4 to New Zealand’s Nick Voke.
Fellow New South Welshman, after making so many birdies during the stroke play phase, couldn’t buy one in his match with American Derek Bard and did well to push his match to 4&3.