Hampshire's Neil Raymond is into the last eight of the US Amateur Championship, after a tense victory over Australia's Nathan Holman.

In a back-and-forth encounter, the decisive moment arrived when the Corhampton player won the 17th to go one-up, before halving the last hole to advance at Brookline.

Raymond had been one-down with three holes to play, but rallied with successive birdies that put him in front.

The 27-year-old, who topped the leaderboard in stroke play qualifying, will now play Canada's Corey Conners tomorrow for a place in the semi-finals.

"Anyone can win," said Raymond. "There are 64 guys going one-on-one for a few days of match play. It doesn't matter what you shoot.

"A good friend of mine shot four-under in the morning match and lost. That is the strange thing about match play. You just play your opponent."

Earlier in the day, Raymond had beaten Tennessee's Zachary Olsen 2&1 to make it into the last 16.

His performance this week further enhances his already-incredibly-strong prospects of securing a place in Great Britain & Ireland's Walker Cup squad, which is due to be announced on Monday.