Luke Colton delivered a knockout performance in what felt like a championship match, defeating top-ranked Miles Russell 4 and 3 in Friday morning’s quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest in Dallas.
The 18-year-old from Frisco, Texas, was simply on fire, racking up seven birdies in just 15 holes to take down the 16-year-old Russell. Colton, ranked second nationally among juniors and No. 26 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, didn’t waste time establishing control against Russell, who sits at No. 18 in WAGR.
Colton jumped ahead early with a long birdie putt from the fringe at the par-3 third to go 2 up. Russell, who had already lipped out shots on each of his first two holes, battled back to square the match after six holes.
The front nine showcased exceptional golf from both lefties. After Russell drained a 30-footer for birdie at the par-4 ninth, Colton answered immediately, pouring in a 25-footer to halve the hole and maintain a 1-up lead at the turn. Together, they posted a best-ball score of 6-under 30 on the front nine—significantly better than the other quarterfinals, which managed 33, 35, and 34.
Russell’s putter ultimately betrayed him on the back nine. He three-putted the par-3 11th from just 12 feet to fall 2 down, then missed crucial mid-range putts at both the 14th and 15th that could’ve extended the match.
Colton advances to Friday afternoon’s semifinals, starting at 2 p.m. ET, where he’ll face the winner of the Hamilton Coleman-Sohan Patel match. Coleman was 2 up through 16 holes when Colton finished his match.
Texas players have dominated this championship in recent years, winning eight of the last 25 U.S. Juniors. Noah Goodwin was the most recent Texan to claim the title in 2017. If Colton goes all the way, he’d join rare company—only two left-handers have ever won U.S. Junior titles: Brian Harman in 2003 and Cory Whitsett in 2007.
