If there was a common thread Friday afternoon between ninth-seeded Noah Goodwin and third-seeded Min Woo Lee as they played their respective semifinal match-play rounds at The Honors Course in the 69th U.S. Junior Amateur golf tournament, it was that good competition seemed to bring the best out in them.
Goodwin, from Corinth, Texas, needed 20 holes but defeated 12th-seeded John Pak, from Scotch Plains, N.J. Australian Lee edged second-seeded Eugene Hong, from Sanford, Fla., 1 up.
Today’s championship match is set for 36 holes. Tee time for the first 18 is 7:20 a.m. The afternoon round is scheduled to begin at 12:15.
Goodwin’s final hole of the day was the 516-yard par-5 No. 2. His drive ended up on the left side of the fairway, near the same spot where he drove the ball during his morning quarterfinal. He said the 2-iron he hit then proved to be a little too much club.
“So I knew 4-iron was the club,” he said of his thoughts before what proved to be his last shot of the day. “I pushed it a little bit, but I never missed the pin. It was perfect.”