BANDON — As the dark orange sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean to the west Monday evening, Tim Hogarth was lining up a seven-foot putt on the first green at Bandon Dunes.

Just before the sun disappeared over the horizon, Hogarth’s putt disappeared into the cup, ending a long day at the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.

The putt gave Hogarth a win over Steve Kline after Kline had extended the match with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole a few minutes earlier. As golfers and their caddies, families and curious onlookers wandered in to the Bandon Dunes clubhouse from other parts of the course — many after not completing their matches because of darkness — Hogarth paused next to the green to discuss his match and the third day at the Mid-Am.

The long day had started hours earlier, just after sunrise, when some 130 golfers found their way onto the Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails courses to pick up where they had been forced to stop Sunday, when a long weather delay kept them from completing their second round of stroke play.

Hogarth was not among them. He had to wait until 2:40 p.m. to tee off, after those morning golfers had finished their rounds and Kline and nine others had competed in a playoff for the final five spots in the 64-man field for match play — they all had tied for 59th place with scores of 151 after the two rounds of stroke-play qualifying.

Hogarth, one of six co-medalists, had been in a group that finished at 144. Even though he was the No. 4 seed and Kline the 61st seed, Hogarth got all he could handle in his match.

“It was a difficult match,” he said. “I was lucky to survive.”

Hogarth wasn’t surprised to see Kline play well. Hogarth is a veteran of events like this — he won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links — and he often has seen the survivors of playoffs come back to play well in match play.

“Once you get in that playoff, you think, ‘I start brand new,’” he said. “This kid — he played great.”

Hogarth and Kline both played well, with Hogarth taking several leads only to see Kline catch up again.

Hogarth led after a birdie at the par-4 14th, but Kline followed that with a rare birdie at the difficult par-3 15th, one of only a handful on the hole Monday.

Hogarth went back in front with a par when Kline flew over the green with his approach shot on the par-4 16th, but Kline evened the match with a two-putt birdie from the fringe on the par-5 18th. They continued on to the first hole in fading light. Kline hit a good approach shot, to about 15 feet, but Hogarth’s was even better, setting up the short putt. After Kline missed his putt, Hogarth sunk the match-winner.

The two shared the customary, and well-deserved, handshake and Hogarth was able to look forward to at least one more match today.

He knows that to win a tournament like the Mid-Am, which requires taking six matches in four days, a player needs to win matches just like Monday’s battle.

“You have to survive matches just like this,” he said. “Whoever wins has to do stuff like that.”

What made Monday unique was how well Hogarth played.

“Out here, under par is supposed to be good enough to win,” said Hogarth, who had just one bogey all day.

“I played great. If I would have lost and played this great, I would have been frustrated.”

Hogarth’s match was one of two classics that ended late in the day Monday.

The previous match to tee off was a battle of past champions Nathan Smith (2003) and George Zahringer (2002) that came down to a phenomenal shot on the final hole.

Twice on the back nine, Zahringer made up a one-hole deficit. He made birdie after a fabulous wedge shot on the par-5 13th and then, after Smith birdied the 14th, Zahringer won the 15th with a par.

On the 16th hole, Smith had a routine par and Zahringer made bogey after mis-hitting a wedge right of the green.

“We both made a handful of mistakes, which happens,” Zahringer said. “I made one extra mistake on 16.”

That set up the dramatic finish on 18.

Smith played first and his second shot came up 20 yards short of the green. Zahringer followed with a fairway wood that arced through the sky, bounced in front of the green and came to a stop 20 feet short of the hole.

Drawing on experiences he learned earlier in the week, Zahringer passed on using a wedge — his tactic growing up in Pittsburgh — and instead pulled out his putter.

With one smooth stroke, he rolled the ball up the hill and across the green to where it stopped inches from the cup. Smith gave a silent fist-pump and, moments later, had won the match when Zahringer couldn’t make his putt.

“I learned the hard way,” Smith said, referring to struggles around the greens with wedges during the two rounds of stroke play. “I’ve never tried to putt a ball that far. I figured there was a backstop. I wanted to at least get it there.”

Zahringer’s response was simple.

“What a great putt,” he said.

He also said it was a great ending to a great match.

“I shot 71, and I think he shot 70,” Zahringer said. “It was solid golf.”

Like Hogarth, Zahringer was one of the six co-medalists. Like Kline, Smith was one of the five survivors of the playoff — in fact the last survivor.

And because he didn’t finish his round Sunday because of the weather delay, Smith had to play nine holes before he ever got to that six-hole playoff.

Smith said it had been a long day — 33 pressure-packed holes in all. But he can expect more if he wants to win the title again.

The field will be cut to eight golfers today with the second and third rounds of match play, plus the completion of seven matches suspended by darkness Monday.

The quarterfinals and semifinals are Wednesday.

For Smith to reach the 36-hole final, he’d have to have two more days similar to Monday.

“It’s really tough,” he said. “The golf gods have to be with you.”

Zahringer, meanwhile, finished a summer that saw him tie for low-amateur honors at the U.S. Senior Open and also reach the round of 16 in the U.S. Amateur, which includes college players, unlike the Mid-Am, which is for players at least 25 years old.

Zahringer wasn’t the only co-medalist or past champion to fall in the first round Monday.

Austin Eaton III, the 2004 champion and another co-medalist, fell 3 and 2 to Jarrett Grimes.

Richard Berkmeyer and Stephen Sear, two of the other medalists, each won by 5 and 3 margins. Trip Kuehne, the other co-medalist, had a 3-up lead through 12 holes when his match was suspended due to darkness.

Among other notable players, past champions Danny Green (1999) and Kevin Marsh (2005) advanced, as well as Walker Cup captain George Marucci Jr. and two players with brothers on the PGA Tour — Tim Mickelson and Jordan Byrd. In matches completed this morning, John O’Donnell, the brother of actor Chris O’Donnell, beat Jeffrey Scohy 1-up, while James Lehman, the brother of PGA player Tom Leman, beat Jeff Daniels on the 19th hole.