PINEHURST, N.C. – The old golf adage goes “anything can happen in match play,” unless you’re playing Texan twin brothers Parker or Pierceson Coody. Then, chances are, you’re going to lose.
While The Brothers Coody may sound like a bad country music band, in reality they’re a two-man wrecking crew that easily advanced to the Round of 32 at the 119th U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst on Wednesday.
Parker, the No. 28 seed, earned the most-lopsided victory of the day with a 7-and-6 victory over Noah Norton, the No. 37 seed who is entering his junior year at Georgia Tech. No. 30-seed Pierceson then followed suit with a 6-and-5 victory of his own over Pepperdine’s Sahith Theegala.
U.S. AMATEUR: Match play results | Photo gallery
Pierceson says his game, along with Parker’s, meshes well with Pinehurst No. 2 due to their precision and length off the tee. More importantly, the two have been in high-stakes matches before. Earlier this year as freshmen, the twin Texans helped lead their Longhorns to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship, losing in the final match to Stanford. Parker finished 2-1 in NCAA Championship matches while Pierceson finished 1-2.
“(The NCAA Championship) was one of my first match play experiences and I learned you have to be so patient,” said Pierceson. “There’s not a lot of getting ahead. You never know when something’s going to swing or someone’s going to make a putt, so you need to stay patient and take it one hole at a time.”
The Coody’s will be back on the course Thursday morning for the Round of 32, with Parker taking on No. 5-seed Shiryu (Leo) Oyo at 9 a.m. Pierceson will play No. 62 Van Holmgren.
