ERIN, Wis. (AP) — Bobby Leopold began his journey by knocking out the No. 1 seed in the U.S. Amateur. It only got better from there.
The No. 64-seeded Leopold worked his way into the third round of the U.S. Amateur on Thursday, beating Harris English 5 and 3 in a match play format. English, from Thomasville, Ga., was the defending champion after winning the National Headliner event in September.
That victory came just hours after Leopold played his first match, defeating No. 1 seed Gregor Main from Danville, Calif., in the conclusion of the weather-delayed first round.
Not bad for someone who put aside dreams of playing professional golf not long ago and now works for his father-in-law’s insurance company.
"We kind of had aspirations to turn pro," Leopold revealed, who grew up in the UK but now lives in the USA. "After I slowed down my life, I realized that the life I wanted, I decided me and I didn’t want to turn professional."
Defending champion Bob Uihlein also advanced, beating South African Dylan Frittelli 5 and 3 on Thursday. The big Oklahoma State player overcame a slow start, making a putt to save par on the 7th hole.
"You’ll have stretches of holes where things don’t go your way," Uihlein said. "You have to slow down and keep fighting. The first six holes I didn’t make a birdie. I just wanted to keep making good swings and hope they’d eventually start dropping – and eventually they did."
UCLA standout Patrick Cantlay advanced, winning a playoff with Russell Henley from Macon, Ga. - English's Georgia teammate who also won this year on the Nationwide Tour.
Cantlay sank a birdie on the second extra hole to help move the playoff along, and both he and Henley rolled in long eagle putts on the first playoff hole.
"It was the craziest match I’ve ever been a part of, and if you told me everything that had to happen the way it did, I wouldn’t have believed you," Cantlay said.
After two rounds of stroke play earlier in the week, the rest of the tournament is in bracket-style, match play format.
Weather delays earlier in the week altered the tournament’s schedule. Players who hadn’t completed the first round on Sunday finished up Thursday morning, and the second round was played later in the evening.
The third round was moved from Thursday afternoon to Friday morning.
Other players included Jordan Russell from Lubbock, Texas; Scott Langley from St. Louis; Bill Peterson from Fort Worth, Texas; Max Buckley from Rye, N.Y.; England’s Tom Lewis; Blake Biddle from E. Charles, Ill.; Kelly Felix Kraft from Denton, Texas; Patrick Rodgers from Avon, Ind.; Sunil Jung from Korea; Bill Hahn from Las Vegas; England’s Jamie Donaldson; David Geyer from Arbuckle, Calif.; and also Nike endorsed Jordan Spieth from Houston.
Leopold made the field as the first alternate and didn't know until last week that he'd be playing in the tournament. Now he's competing against a field full of young players who still might have professional goals.
"I don’t feel the age, but I guess at 26, I’m one of the older guys," Leopold said.
Despite pulling off a couple of upsets, Leopold doesn’t really see himself as a giant-killer.
"I think anyone on any given day can easily beat anyone else," Leopold said. "Harris probably didn’t have his best day, and I had a good day. That’s golf. That’s how it pans out. It’s a crazy game."
Leopold hails from Albany, N.Y., but spent his formative years near Birmingham. He moved back to the U.S. to pursue golf seriously and briefly considered going pro.
"I spent eight weeks down in Florida trying to play as an amateur on my own," Leopold said. "I don’t know. It wasn’t fun. Playing golf wasn’t fun anymore. You're playing okay golf courses with people who seem to just want to beat each other’s brains out. If you can’t do that, then you fall."
That brief experience gave Leopold a glimpse into a life he didn’t want.
"My fiancée and I didn’t really fancy the thought," Leopold said. "It could have been a long road."
Leopold got engaged in 2009, when he was quoted saying he would have been a first alternate to compete in the U.S. Amateur but wasn’t selected.
"That is probably a good thing, as doing so might have conflicted with the wedding plans," Leopold said.
A bigger influence in his life now is his golf caddie, Scott Cooke.
"He’s my boss, my caddie, my swing coach, my father-in-law," Leopold said. "Other great stories."
Leopold draws inspiration from overcoming two challenges in the US Amateur.