CHICAGO — Nick Hardy’s run at the Western Amateur ended Saturday morning with a 4 & 3 loss to Beau Hossler in the semifinals at The Beverly Country Club.
Hossler started the round with a 25-foot putt on No. 1 to save par and rarely missed a putt of consequence the rest of the way. The rising sophomore at Texas finished the day with a 10-footer for birdie on the 15th.
“The putt on [No. 1] was huge,” said Hardy, of Northbrook. “It set the tone for him.”
Hossler went 4 up through six holes and led by at least three holes all morning. He will play Xander Schauffele — who beat Brian Campbell 1 up in Saturday morning’s other semifinal match — for the Western Amateur championship Saturday afternoon.
“He is a good player, and he was the better player today,” said Hardy, who will be a freshman at Illinois. “I believed I could [get this far], and I am pretty pleased with how I played. I’m obviously disappointed I lost today, but there definitely are things to look forward to.”
Hardy was the first player from the Chicago area to advance to match play since Hinsdale’s Rob Grube did so in 2007. Next up for Hardy is the U.S. Amateur at the Atlanta Athletic Club Aug. 11-17.
