Jeff Osberg advances to quarterfinals of Philadelphia Amateur
Osberg took the last hole to beat Peter Bradbeer, 2 and 1, to advance to the quarterfinal round.
As the Round of 16 teed off at the 119th BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall Golf Course on Wednesday, two golfers familiar with each other’s game were tied until the end of the round.
Jeff Osberg, who has years of experience playing in the event, began the second day of the tournament as the top seed in match play after 1-under-par 69 outings on both the north and old courses.
Osberg’s opponent, Peter Bradbeer, began his stint in match play as the No. 17 overall seed.
It was close until the end, with Osberg taking the last hole played to beat Bradbeer, 2 and 1, and advance to the quarterfinal round.
This wasn’t the first time these two had met up.
In 2015, Osberg and Bradbeer were in the same grouping at a Golf Association of Philadelphia team match. However, because of the format of the tournament, the two golfers didn’t go head to head then.
But Bradbeer, 17 at the time, can still remember the defeat his team suffered at the hands of Osberg. The loss, however, didn’t discourage Bradbeer from playing. In fact, Bradbeer said, watching Osberg up close made him want to work harder on his own game.
“It was one of my first GAP events,” Bradbeer said. “It was cool to see somebody who’s at the top of his game when I was a young kid, made me want to play like him.”
What the 34-year-old Osberg, who has won the Philadelphia Amateur before, didn’t expect heading into Wednesday was that he was going to have to come from behind in both matches to advance into the quarterfinal round Thursday.
Against Bradbeer, Osberg trailed after losing the first two holes, 5-4. After tying on the next two, Osberg won his first hole of the match, 4-3, but was still trailing Bradbeer.
“I was down in both matches [today],” Osberg said. “The second match I was down pretty much the entire time, until the last three holes. This morning I stayed confident that I was playing great. I was capable of making a lot of birdies.”
Despite his calm demeanor, Osberg said he could feel the pressure.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking till the end,” Osberg said. “Even in the last whole, he hit it in there close for birdie. I didn’t expect Peter to give up anything, which was fortunate for me,” Osberg said. “The way he was playing, when we got to the last seven holes, I figured I needed five birdies to have a chance in the match.”
Reigning Philadelphia Amateur champion, Jeremy Wall also advanced into the quarterfinal round after beating Max Siegfried, 2 and 1.
The remaining eight golfers who advanced into the quarterfinal round are set to begin at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at Stonewall Golf course.
