After qualifying for a berth in the U.S. Amateur Open, a tournament that has been won by the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, Island golfer Tony Grillo shot a disappointing 81 in the second round of match play last week, leaving him cut out of the following rounds of competition.

Grillo, 19, shot a two-day total of 158 — 18 over par — at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

He shot a respectable 77 in the first round last Monday at Southern Hills, but 81 the next day when play shifted to the course at Cedar Ridge Country Club, considered by many to be the easier of the two courses.

“They said Cedar Ridge was the easier course, but I got off to a bad start on Tuesday . . . a few bogies here and there. So after six or seven holes I had to be aggressive, I was playing from behind the whole round,” he said.

The U.S. Amateur will likely be the last tournament of the year for Grillo, who is now back at Harvard University where he will play on the golf team this fall. Although the final result was a letdown, he said playing in the tournament was rewarding.

“Some of the best players in the country were there; for some this was the last tournament as amateurs before they turned professional. It was great just to be out there playing with them,” he said.

In the U.S. Amateur, there is no age limit; players of all ages can compete so long as they retain their amateur status. So after two rounds the tournament leader was 50-year-old Tim Jackson, who shot a second-round 72 to earn medalist’s honor for match play.

“It was kind of strange; he was playing on the senior tour earlier this year as an amateur,” Grillo said.

But in the end youth prevailed over experience as 17-year-old Byeong-Hun An left with the trophy, the youngest player ever to do so. With the win, An, who missed the first week of high school to play in the tournament, earned an exemption into next year’s U.S. Open and British Open and, if tradition holds, he’ll be invited to play in the Masters, too.

Grillo said he will try and be back next year.

“Oh yeah . . . I’ll try and be back. I will play in some qualifiers [to try and return to the Amateur Open]. This was a great learning experience for me. Hopefully I’ll be back next year and build on this,” he said.