Chattanooga’s Adam Mitchell is in the Elite Eight at the U.S. Amateur.

The former McCallie School golfer steamrolled nationally second-ranked Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Calif., 5 and 4 in the round of 16 on Thursday afternoon. That was after dispatching 45-year-old Mike McCoy of West Des Moines, Iowa, 4 and 3 in a morning match at Pinehurst No. 2.

“I’m enjoying it. I’m having a good time and missing a week of school,” the University of Georgia senior said via cell phone. “It’s kind of cool with a ton of people around watching and USGA officials everywhere.

“I mean, it’s the U.S. Amateur, one of the oldest tournaments around.”

Mitchell tees off at 10:15 this morning against University of Texas junior Charlie Holland of Dallas, who needed 20 and 23 holes to win his matches Thursday.

Mitchell fell behind Fowler on the first hole but won seven of the next eight, including six in a row, to go 6 up through nine holes. He closed the match against the Oklahoma State senior when they both bogeyed No. 14.

“For the first time, I went out and had fun and had a great time,” Mitchell said. “I hit a bunch of good shots to force Rickie to make birdies. When I got the lead, I started hitting the middle of greens and putting pressure on him.”

Fowler won the Ben Hogan Award as the top collegiate golfer earlier this summer. But he will not win the Havemeyer Trophy after being eliminated by his friend.

“We just hung out and talked and had a great time,” Mitchell said. “I’m trying to live in the moment.”

Against McCoy, Mitchell won the first two holes and never trailed.

“I didn’t play well in the morning because I was a little timid, but I played well enough to win,” said Mitchell, who went 0-5 in match play during the Palmer Cup earlier this summer. “Earlier this week I was hitting well, but I was getting frustrated because I wasn’t getting the scores. I was trying too hard.”

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