Senior Michael Hebert shot his way to the second round of match play before falling to Murray State's Patrick Newcomb in the U.S. Men's Amateur at Cherry Hills Village Country Club.
The senior out of Benton, Ky. overcame a 3-down deficit with seven holes remaining to force a playoff, outlasting Hebert to win 1-up after 19 holes.
Hebert started the 19-hole battle on top, but was unable to hold on to his lead for long.
Following a bogey on hole three by Newcomb, Hebert led 1-up. Newcomb evened the score after Hebert bogeyed on No. 7.
Hebert won the remaining two holes to regain the lead and go 2-up before heading to the back nine.
The Orlando, Fla. native pushed his lead to 3-up with a birdie on No. 11.
Then came the Newcomb show.
Newcomb quickly began to chip away at Hebert's lead, winning the 12th, 14th and 15th holes to square up the contest.
Hebert recaptured the lead with one hole to play after Newcomb dropped No. 17 with a double bogey.
Newcomb bounced back on the 18th hole while Hebert double bogeyed, forcing a sudden-death playoff.
Newcomb recorded a bogey on the last hole, but Hebert shot a double bogey to give Newcomb the victory and a ticket to the round of 16.
Newcomb was just one of five collegiate players coming out of a non-BCS conference school to advance to the round of 16.
Hebert won his opening match, defeating Todd Sinnot of Australia in a back-and-forth battle, eventually ending the day 6-and-4.
Sinnot went up early on, shooting a birdie on the second hole while Hebert made par.
Hebert answered on No. 3, carding a birdie to even the match.
Sinnot temporarily regained the lead on the fourth hole with a par, until Hebert recorded back-to-back wins to put him 1-up.
After pushing his lead to 2-up to start the back nine play, Hebert won four straight holes to move on to the second round.
Hebert will return to Auburn where the Tigers will tee off their 2012-2013 campaign Sept. 7 in the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm Golf Club in Dalton, Ga.
Hebert pieced together a solid summer, finishing twice in the top three in prestigious amateur events, including the Players Amateur at the Berkeley Hall Club in Bluffton, S.C.
He was also named a Division I Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
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