BANDON — Tim Tucker raised his hat from his sun-reddened forehead and gave the sizable gallery of his friends, family and co-workers a slight nod, thanking them for the steadfast support he got throughout his afternoon at Bandon Dunes Resort.

He only wished he had a victory to give in return.

Tucker’s run at this week’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship ended Monday after he fell in 20 holes  to Dan Whitaker of Cle Elum, Wash., in match play. Whitaker birdied the par-3 second hole in a sudden-death playoff to advance to today’s round of 32. He teed off against past champion Danny Green of Jackson, Tenn., at 8:20 a.m.

Tucker forced the playoff with a spirited comeback on the final two holes. The Coos Bay native, who caddies regularly at the resort, was 2-down after the 16th but evened the score with a birdie on 17 and a conceded eagle on 18. From there, Tucker and Whitaker parred the first hole to remain all square before Whitaker’s 6-foot birdie putt clinched the win.

Both players finished the first 18 holes of the par-72 Bandon Dunes course at 1-under par.

“I’m still pleased with the ending,” Tucker said afterward while walking with his caddie, Jason Domingos. “You know, (Domingos) and I talked about it on 17. I said, ‘I don’t want to just walk off this golf course. I want to finish every hole,’ and we did. We had two great shots to finish.”

Tucker’s rally started on the wide-open 17th green where he sank a 13-foot birdie putt while facing elimination. He followed that with a 239-foot approach shot on 18 that left him 8 feet from the pin. It drew serenades of “Go get ’em Tuck!” from his colorful home-town gallery, which grew threefold as he paced toward the daunting 18th green.

“Oh, they were awesome,” Tucker said. “It was great just having all of your friends out here. I’ve never had anything like that before. It really helped out.”

Tucker’s entourage began to swell after his birdie on 10 moved him 2-up. By the time he passed the clubhouse on the way to the first playoff hole, it had grown to a motley group of 40-plus patrons, including the resort’s executive and gallery chefs, sommelier, several gift and pro shop employees, caddies and the directors of caddie and golf operations — not to mention Josh Lesnik, a vice-president of KemperSports Management, which runs the resort.

“I got the feeling they weren’t there for me,” joked Whitaker, whose gallery included his parents. “It was a great match.

“Playing against one of the resort’s caddies was a little intimidating. I knew he was going to be putting well, and I heard he hits a pretty good iron. Anytime you got that combination it’s dangerous.”

In the end, it was Whitaker’s iron play that came through on the 20th. After Tucker’s tee shot reached the second cut below the elevated green, Whitaker placed his ball 6 feet from the flag to set up an easy birdie putt.

“I was hitting my irons well pretty much all week,” Whitaker said. “My last time around, I played it too far left, so I figured I’d hang it up a little farther. With the way he was playing I didn’t want to leave anything to chance — I went right after the pin.”

Whitaker built his lead by mounting his own rally earlier on the back nine. After Tucker sank a 6-foot putt on the 10th to go 2-up, Whitaker parred the par-3 12th and birdied the par-5 13th to make it all square.

Tucker said he missed a golden opportunity to take the lead on the par-3, 15th after Whitaker carded a bogey. Tucker struggled with his short game and fell behind with a double bogey.

“That was huge,” Tucker said. “I had a chance to tie — man, I had a chance to win the hole but hit a small 7-iron into the rough and misjudged a 5-foot putt. That was a bad hole for me.”

Tucker and Whitaker were all square through the first three holes of the afternoon before Tucker birdied No. 4 to go 1-up. Whitaker evened the score with a birdie on the seventh, but Tucker went 1-up again on the par-4 eighth, capitalizing off a bogey by Whitaker.

“He’s a tough competitor,” Whitaker added.

Against Tucker, Whitaker showed little fatigue despite playing after he finished the second round of stroke play in the morning. Whitaker, who matched the low round of the tournament with his 68 in Saturday’s first round, had a triple bogey and four birdies on the way to finishing 6-over.

“I actually wasn’t tired today — I was a little surprised,” Whitaker said. “It was a good day for me.”