Late flourish helps Bryson Nimmer survive U.S. Amateur opening match

Bluffton’s Bryson Nimmer took advantage of a faltering Jack Hume to win two of Wednesday’s last three holes in their opening match at the U.S. Amateur, flipping the tables on his Irish opponent to advance with a 1-up victory at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Nimmer led only once until the finishing flourish on Oakland Hills Country Club’s venerable South course, though the golfers were never separated by more than a 1-up margin.

The Clemson sophomore still trailed 1-down as they headed to the 16th tee, where he pulled even with a par. Another par at the long par-3 17th was good enough to move back in front, and Nimmer sealed the win with a par at No.18.

Nimmer advanced to a second-round match Thursday against LSU sophomore Luis Gagne, a late addition to the field who nonetheless qualified 10th in stroke play and cruised to a 5&3 romp in his opening match against Paul Pastore.

Bluffton’s Harrison Shih wasn’t as fortunate in his opening match, unable to recover from a stretch of losing four consecutive holes around the turn as he was eliminated 2&1 by California golfer Bryan Baumgarten.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Late flourish helps Bryson Nimmer survive U.S. Amateur opening match."