AUGUSTA, Mo. (AP) -- Seung Yul Noh shot a 4-under-par 67 on Tuesday and secured the top seed in match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.
The 16-year-old player from Korea finished with a two-day total of 136 after 36 holes at Boone Valley Golf Club. He was two strokes ahead of Hunter Hamrick of Montgomery, Ala., and three better than James White of Acworth, Ga.
"I played hard," said Noh, through his caddie/interpreter Benny Kim. "I tried to make a lot of pars. My putting was good. I made a couple of long putts on 3 and 17."
Noh's 67 was also the low score for the second round, putting him in the top spot for match play that begins Wednesday. Hamrick is the No. 2 seed and White is third. Mu Hu of Orlando, Fla., and Sean Dale of Jacksonville, Fla. finished with two-round totals of 140 to round out the top five.
The cut for match play was at 9-over-par 151 with the top 64 scores advancing. The second and third rounds of match play are set for Thursday, with the quarterfinals and semifinals planned for Friday. A 36-hole final round will be played Saturday.
White, 17, followed his field-best 66 from the first round with a 73 on Tuesday. He said a few errant shots jarred his concentration enough to throw him off his game.
"I was grinding out every shot," he said. "I hit it in the rough a lot more. I saw that part of the golf course. It is not good. It is not nice when you don't hit the fairway."
Only two players had below-par performances during both rounds. Noh, who had five birdies and a bogey on Tuesday, shot a 69 in the first round. Hamrick notched a 1-under 70.
Three quarterfinalists from 2006 also made the match play cut -- Danny Lee of New Zealand (143), Wesley Graham of Port Orange, Fla. (146), and Bud Cauley of Jacksonville, Fla. (148).
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