ST. LOUIS – Dave Ryan and Matthew Sughrue each won two matches Wednesday at Old Warson to reach the U.S. Senior Amateur final.
The 62-year-old Ryan, from Taylorsville, Illinois, beat Michael Dunsmore of Poughkeepsie, New York, 5 and 3 in the quarterfinals and topped Tim Jackson of Germantown, Tennessee, 1 up in the semifinals.
The 57-year-old Sughrue, from Arlington, Virginia, edged Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Georgia, 1 up in the quarterfinals and rallied to beat Kevin Cahill of Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 19 holes in the semifinals.
Against Jackson, Ryan won the 14th to take a 2-up lead, lost the 15th with a bogey and matched Jackson with a par-birdie-par finish to close out the match. On Tuesday in the round of 16, Ryan had the third known hole-in-one on a par 4 in USGA history.
Against Cahill, Sughrue lost 15 and 16 to fall 1 down, won the 18th with a par and won the match on the 19th with another par. Sughrue also rallied against Hanzel, winning 15 and 16 to take the lead and matching Hanzel with pars on the last two holes.
Sughrue left the insurance business after 25 years to go to graduate school at Virginia Tech and become a psychotherapist.
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