AURORA — Pat Grady could only laugh when asked if he didn’t get a stroke for home-field advantage.
The University of Colorado senior out of Broomfield was taking the long walk from the 18th green to the clubhouse after losing 1-up to Jeff Dennis of Jacksonville, Fla., in Thursday’s match play in the U.S. Public Links Championship at Murphy Creek Golf Course.
Losing was bad enough, but he was more disturbed at losing what he saw to be an excellent opportunity in the rounds ahead.
“I heard that Rickie Fowler was eliminated, so it’s anybody’s ball game right now,” Grady said. “Gosh, it would have been nice to win this one because you never know. I could have won this 3-up, but I’ve never putted so badly.”
Fowler, a sophomore at Oklahoma State, came in as the top-ranked amateur in the world.
Kyle Leach, a 21-year-old out of Louisville, Ky., became the focal point of the tournament after beating Fowler 2 and 1.
Leach had what Grady didn’t have.
“I made some key putts for par and that kept me ahead 1-up,” Leach said. “On 15, I knocked it real close for birdie after Rickie already had knocked his drive in the water. I was a foot away from the hole. That was a key shot.”
It wasn’t Fowler’s day. After losing to Leach, he also lost an impromptu cart race in the parking lot.
“In stroke play, I felt like I was breezing through no problem, shooting 3-, 4-, 5-under, but when we got into match play, I struggled to keep it around par,” Fowler said. “I expect to win everything, and I’m a little disappointed. It’ll be interesting to see who wins this.”
With Fowler’s departure, fifth-seeded Corey Nagy, a sophomore at North Carolina- Charlotte, is the highest remaining seed. Nagy won 2 and 1 over Grant Leaver. However, he wasn’t claiming favorite status.
“I don’t care about the seeding,” Nagy said. “If you don’t care, it’s not hard to handle it. I can take away a good memory that I played well in stroke play and I played well in match play. It’s hard to have expectations in match play.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
