By Colleen Kane
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hall

After 260 competitors were whittled away, what remains for the Met's final rounds are two pairs of friends.

Golfing buddies Kevin Hall and Justin Fender hope to face each other in today's finals at Oasis. So do friends Scott Ross and Billy Williamson. First, they'll have to get through the semifinals.

The four won in Thursday's quarterfinals to advance to today's final rounds.

No. 1 seed Hall will play No. 5 Ross at 7:30 a.m.

No. 18 Fender will play No. 19 Williamson at 7:45 a.m. The finals will be held one hour after the completion of the semifinals.

"That would be ideal," Fender said of a finals match-up with Hall. "If I won, I won. If he won, I'd be really happy."

Fender already eliminated one friend from the tournament. Thursday morning, he beat No. 2 Bryan Harger 1 up in the round of 16. Harger just graduated from Xavier, and Fender, who played in only three tournaments for the Musketeers, will try to take his starting spot on the team next fall. Xavier coach Doug Steiner came to watch but didn't take sides.

"I stayed away because I didn't really want to root for one or the other," Steiner said. "(Justin's) best golf is ahead of him... What's good about this for him is he can get more confidence."

Fender said joking with Harger kept him loose, but he got nervous and ate just three peanut butter crackers and drank water during the 10-hour day. His meal came on hole 11 of his second match, just as he was getting used to the day's strong winds and was finishing off Bill Piliaris 3 and 2. He won four of the last seven holes, as Piliaris struggled to recover from shots into bunkers and weeds.

Fender said he probably won't eat much more today. A match with Hall could turn into intense competition. The pair has played together since junior golf and has a running total of who wins matches.

"We'll call each other up and go and play," Fender said. "When I play with him, I can play pretty serious because we want to beat each other."

Hall, a senior at Ohio State, defeated Shawn McCaskey 5 and 3 to advance.

Fender's meeting with Williamson will also be familiar. Fender works at Legendary Run, where Williamson golfs. Williamson beat Terry Papp 4 and 3 to advance.

Williamson and Ross have played golf together since they met at a Public Links qualifier in 1999.

"I know his game pretty well, so I wouldn't mind meeting him," Ross said.

Ross, 32, calls himself the "old guy" of the group. Hall is 20, Fender's 19, and Williamson is 26. He defeated Chris Dayton 3 and 1 in the quarterfinals despite being "worn out."

COSTLY RIDE: Papp won his sudden-death match with Don Hunsche because of a loss-of-hole penalty. Hunsche's caddy illegally jumped on a golf cart on the 19th hole to catch up with the group. Hunsche won the hole but had to forfeit it and the match to Papp. Williamson eliminated Papp.