Gamecock rising sophomore Nathan Franks tied for 14th in the two-round qualifying tournament.

He was seeded 18th when the round of 64 began on Wednesday morning.

The Dorman High School grad from Roebuck was matched up with Tyler Stahle, from Andover, Ma.

Stahle was in a large group of golfers tied for 39th after stroke play and was seeded 47th for the opening round of Match Play.

The two golfers played even through the first nine, but on the back nine Franks worked his way into the lead.

The USC golfer won the 12th hole with a birdie to go 1 up and then won the 14th hole with a par.

He birdied the par 3, 143 yard 15th hole to go 3 up.

When both golfers parred the 16th hole, Franks had secured the win with a 3 and 2 victory and a chance to play in the round of 32.

Franks will next face off with the 2022 Australian Amateur champion Connor McKinney.

This year McKinney also won the St. Andrews Trophy in an event at St. Andrews and placed 7th in the recent Western Amateur.

McKinney advanced into the round of 32 with a 3 and 1 win over Texas All-American Travis Vick.

Franks and McKinney are scheduled for a 9:30 tee time on Thursday at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ.

It was a tough day for some of the top seeds in the field.

Iowa State golfer Luke Gutschewski, who was among the four golfers tied for medalist honors after qualifying, was knocked out of the championship by the 64th seed, Purdue golfer Peyton Snoeberger in 20 holes.

NCAA Champion Gordon Sargent from Vanderbilt was also a first round casualty dropping his match to Mississippi State golfer Ford Clegg in 21 holes.

Scores and live scoring available here https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2022/u-s–amateur.html#!tee-times