AURORA -- A few days after winning his Colorado Golf Association Match Play title, Luke Symons was asked who he expected to do well at this week's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

Without hesitating, the University of Colorado golfer said Pat Grady might go a long way at Murphy Creek Golf Course.

Symons proved as adept at handicapping as he is at playing golf. In this case, he certainly knows his teammate's game, even though just a week ago Symons defeated Grady in the semifinals of the State Match Play.

Grady, it turns out, finished in the top 16 in the 156-man national tournament. With Symons caddying for him, the CU golfer from Broomfield won his second-round match 2-up Thursday morning and led in his afternoon matchup. Alas, he ended up exiting in the same round as the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world.

Fourteenth-seeded Jeff Dennis, a senior at North Florida, rallied to oust Grady 1-up in Round 3. Shortly before, world No. 1 Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State exited, a 2-and-1 victim of Kyle Leach of Louisville, Ky.

Having that company was of little immediate consolation to Grady.

"It was there for me to win" in the third round, said Grady, the 2007 state amateur of the year. "I was 2-up. I miss a 4-foot putt on 12 ... and No. 17 was a total choke."

Grady couldn't sink his 3-foot par putt on the par-3 17th, giving Dennis his first lead of the match. Both players had 5-foot par putts on No. 18, and Dennis sank his to close out Grady.

"You learn to play under more and more pressure," said Grady, a senior-to-be at CU. "It was good to play here. You don't get this in Saturday (casual) games. It was fun while it lasted."

A couple of breaks went against Grady, which cost him in a tight match. On No. 14, Dennis hit his tee shot off an out-of-bounds fence and it bounced back in play, allowing him make par and remain 1-down.

"The golf gods were with me on that 3-wood," Dennis said. "My ball popped back in bounds. It definitely saved me."

Then on the next hole, a poor lie near the green led to a Grady bogey -- "I was totally shafted," he said -- and the match was all square.

But in the end, lousy putting and spotty play late in the round did in Grady, who played his final seven holes in 3 over par.

"My putting was atrocious -- that's the moral of the story," Grady said, noting he three-putted five times in two matches Thursday. "I couldn't get the speed all day."

In his second-round victory over 62nd-seeded Zach Sebert earlier Thursday, Grady lost three of four holes in the middle of the round after Sebert holed a 90-yard shot for an eagle on a 412-yard par-4. But Grady won holes 16, 17 and 18 -- all with pars -- to clinch the victory.

"He melted down," Grady said of Sebert. "He hit it terrible, and it caught up to him."

Even after then losing in the afternoon, Grady was quick to put the week in perspective.

"I just need five minutes of moping because I had a good tournament," he said.

The other Coloradan still playing Thursday, Colorado State golfer Riley Arp, was ousted in the second round by Trey Bowling of Manchester, Ky., 5 and 3.

Play continues today with the quarterfinals and semifinals. The 36-hole final is set for Saturday.

U.S. Amateur Public Links

At Murphy Creek Golf Course

Aurora

Yardage: 7,551; Par 71

Match Play

Second Round

Cason Hammock, Columbus, Ga. (143), def. Brady Johnson, Canada (147), 3 and 2; Trey Bowling, Manchester, Ky. (141), def. Riley Arp, Fort Collins, (140), 5 and 3; Randall Hutchison, Traverse City, Mich. (144), def. Dan Whitaker, Cle Elum, Wash. (146), 6 and 5; Andrew Paulson, White Bear Lake, Minn. (142), def. Peter Malnati, Dandridge, Tenn. (146), 7 and 6; Kelly Kretz, Antigo, Wis. (143), def. Brian Locke, Los Angeles (137), 2 and 1; Jack Newman, Des Moines, Iowa (142), def. Billy Horschel, Gainesville, Fla. (140), 21 holes; Corey Nagy, Charlotte, N.C. (137), def. Patrick Lundy, Little River, S.C. (144), 4 and 2; Grant Leaver, Centerville, Tenn. (145), def. Nakarintra Ratanakul, West Lafayette, Ind. (140), 4 and 2; Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif. (133), def. Cody Paladino, Kensington, Conn. (143), 4 and 3; Kyle Leach, Louisville, Ky. (141), def. Scott Langley, St Louis (140), 1 up; David Johnson, Palm Bay, Fla. (143), def. Jon McLean, Weston, Fla. (138), 1 up; Andy Winings, Brownsburg, Ind. (139), def. Robert Rohanna, Waynesburg, Pa. (144), 6 and 4; Pat Grady, Broomfield, (143), def. Zach Sebert, Grove City, Ohio (146), 2 up; Jeff Dennis, Jacksonville, Fla. (140), def. Ben Bastel, Upper Sandusky, Ohio (145), 3 and 2; John Chin, Temecula, Calif. (146), def. Luke Morgan, Muldrow, Okla. (143), 8 and 6; Wesley Bryan, Chapin, S.C. (142), def. Kevin Foley, Somerville, N.J. (145), 4 and 3.

Third Round

Hammock def. Bowling, 4 and 3; Hutchison def. Paulson, 7 and 5; Newman def. Kretz, 5 and 3; Nagy def. Leaver, 2 and 1; Leach def.Fowler, 2 and 1; Johnson def. Winings, 3 and 2; Dennis def. Grady, 1 up; Chin def. Bryan, 3 and 2.