STRATHAM, N.H. –  Jacob Ross of Brookhaven shot a second-round score of 5-over par 77 Tuesday in the U.S. Junior Amateur. Most importantly, Ross qualified for match play with a 2-round total of 75-77-152, leaving him in a 6-way tie for 58th place, one slot below the cutoff for the 64-member field at the Golf Club of New England.

     The 17-year-old Ross shot a 75 on Monday and a 77 on Tuesday. He finished the front 9 yesterday with a 40 after taking a triple bogey on the par-5, 556=yard fifth signature hole. Ross had birdied the 486-yard fourth hole.

     After two rounds of medal play, there was a 3-way tie at the top. Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., Nicholas Echavarria of Colombia and Shintaro Ban of San Jose, Calif., finished at 3-under par 141.

     Four more players managed to break par. Zecheng Dou of the Republic of China, Carter Jenkins of Raleigh, N.C. and Andrew Bonner of Ripon, Calif. finished at 2-under. Brandon Davis of McKinney, Texas was  at 1-under.

     Match play began this morning on the challenging, 7,500-yard  course and concludes Saturday with the championship finals. James Riley of Hattiesburg faced Michael Pisciotta of Alphretta, Ga., in an 8:30 CDT opening match. Riley tied for 28th in stroke play with a 5-over par 149.

     Ross played Echavarria at 9:18 today in one of the 32 scheduled matches.