Capan Eliminated During Round of 16 at U.S. Junior Amateur

  OOLTEWAH, Tenn. – Minnesotan Frankie Capan advanced from the Round of 32 Thursday, narrowly defeating Costa Rica’s Paul Chaplet before falling to Min Woo Lee during the Round of 16 at the Honors Course.

Capan, North Oaks, Minn., advanced to the match play portion of the championship after finishing the first two rounds of stroke play tied for 47th at 5-over par 149.

Defeating Hunter Eichhorn, 3 and 2, during the opening round of match play Wednesday before hanging on to defeat the Costa Rican Chaplet, 1-up, during the Round of 32 Thursday.

Facing Lee, of Australia, Thursday, Capan fell behind early as Lee carded two early birdies to take a 2-up lead. Capan battled back to win the third and fifth holes, but Lee would take a 3-up lead through seven, winning five of the first seven holes with birdies.

Taking advantage of a string of bogeys late in the round Thursday, Capan evened the match at the 15th before Lee rolled in his birdie chance at the 17th to take a 1-up lead with one hole to play.

Capan answered by sinking his birdie chance on the final hole to force extra holes, but Lee would eliminate Capan on the first playoff hole, rolling in his birdie at the short, par-4 first hole.

Lee is the younger brother of LPGA golfer Minjee Lee, who qualified for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at North Oaks Golf Club in North Oaks, Minn., when she was 17-years-old as the top-ranked female amateur golfer in the world.