USGA: Pressel's Amateur Victory Heartbreak At Women's Open Highlight 2005 Championships

Pressel's Amateur Victory, Heartbreak At Women's Open Highlight 2005 Championships

December 14, 2005

Far Hills, N.J. - Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton, Fla., capped off a brilliant summer of competitive golf when she defeated Maru Martinez of Venezuela, 9 and 8, in the championship match of the 2005 U.S. Women's Amateur at Ansley Golf Club's Settindown Creek Course in Roswell, Ga. Pressel's victory highlighted just one of the 13 national championships conducted by the USGA in 2005.

Pressel finished her week in the Atlanta suburb the equivalent of 36 under par, with the usual concessions for match play.

Amateurs of the moment, Morgan Pressel, left, and Brittany Lang shared a laugh at the Women's Open. Both tied for second. (John Mummert/USGA)

"It's my biggest win," said Pressel. "I'm proud of myself for how I played and how I handled myself through the week. .I just kept waiting and it all came together this week.It just means so much to me to have played this well."

Two months earlier at Cherry Hills Country Club outside of Denver, Colo., the 17-year-old, who in 2001 at age 12 became the youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Open, nearly became the second amateur to ever win that championship only to see Korea's Birdie Kim snatch the trophy away by holing a miraculous bunker shot at the 72nd hole. Pressel witnessed this feat while standing in the fairway preparing to play her approach shot to the par-4 18th. posted a final-round, 1-over-par 72 to finish the championship at 3-over 287, two strokes in front of Pressel and another amateur, 19-year of McKinney, Texas.

, as it turned out, was not the only Korean female to enjoy USGA championship success in 2005. At the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, 17-year-old Eun Jung Lee overcame a five-hole deficit in the second 18 of the 36-hole final at Swope Memorial Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo., to defeat Tiffany Chudy of Miramar, Fla., in 37 holes, the first time a WAPL final had been decided in extra holes.

A week later at BanBury Golf Club in Eagle, Idaho, 17-year-old In-Kyung Kim defeated fellow 17-year-old countrywoman In-Bee Park, 5 and 4, to win the U.S. Girls' Junior title. It was the third Girls' Junior final for Park, who won the title in 2002 at Echo Lake Country Club and was the runner-up to in 2003 at Brooklawn Country Club. was competing in her first Girls' Junior.

Another international player walked away with the U.S. Open title as of held off a hard-charging Tiger Woods at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort's No. 2 Course by two strokes. , who shot a final-round 69 (1 under) to post a 72-hole total of even-par 280, became the first sectional qualifier to win the U.S. Open since in 1996. is only the second Kiwi to win a major, joining left-hander , who won the 1963 British Open.

started the final round six strokes behind third-round leader and defending champion (who shot 81 in final round). But with birdies at 10,11 and 15 he moved within two shots of . However, he bogeyed 16 and 17, costing himself a chance at a third Open title.

Michael Campbell fended off a hard-charging Tiger Woods to win his first major. (John Mummert/USGA)

A surprising comeback was the story at the U.S. Senior Open at NCR Country Club outside of Dayton, Ohio, in late July. Former USA Walker Cupper Allen Doyle of LaGrange, Ga., came virtually out of nowhere on Sunday, shooting a sizzling 8-under 63 (10-under 274 total) to claim the championship by one stroke over and . 's final-round was ignited by a 15-foot chip-in at the first hole. He finished with just 25 putts on the day. Third-round leader appeared to be in control until a double-bogey at the ninth started a freefall that saw the 1973 U.S. Amateur champion shoot an uncharacteristic 5-over 40 on the back nine. Weibring could have forced a playoff with , but missed a 10-foot par putt at 18.

has not produced many golf champions, but it can boast proudly over 2005 U.S. Amateur winner , an engineering student from Turin. Molinari holed out a bunker shot on his final hole of stroke-play qualifying just to get into a playoff for one of the final match-play spots, then used his good fortune to post six consecutive victories, the last coming in the 36-hole final against Dillon Dougherty of Woodland, Calif. Molinari won 4 and 3 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. Molinari became a birdie machine in the afternoon 18, rolling in four from 25 feet or longer and requiring just 18 putts to close out the match at the 15th hole. Molinari is the second Italian to win a USGA title, joining 1997 U.S. Women's Amateur champion who is now on the LPGA Tour.

A former major champion's son claimed the U.S. Junior Amateur title at Longmeadow (Mass.) Country Club. of Edmond Okla., who turned 17 on the day of the first-ever 36-hole championship final and the son of 1986 PGA Championship winner , defeated , 16, of Birmingham, Ala., 4 and 3. Tway was able to accomplish something his father has yet to achieve: win a USGA title. The elder Tway competed in two U.S. Juniors, but never made it past the first round of match play.

Clay Ogden, 20, of West Point, Utah, was not the featured attraction at the outset of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio, but his 5-and-4 defeat of 15-year-old Michelle Wie of Honolulu, Hawaii, the first female to qualify for a USGA men's championship, in the quarterfinals thrust him into the national and international spotlight. continued his confidence into the 36-hole final against of . rallied from an early four-hole deficit, eventually taking the lead for good with a birdie at the 34th hole to earn a 1-up victory.

Jamaican-born Diane Lang, 50, of Weston, Fla., denied the decorated Carol Semple Thompson of Sewickley, Pa., a fifth USGA Senior Women's Amateur title when she defeated the seven-time USGA champion, 1 up, in the final at the Apawamis Club in Rye, N.Y. Thompson was playing in her 102nd USGA event, while this was Lang's second.

Mike Rice, 65, of Houston, Texas, overcame a nagging shoulder injury sustained in his quarterfinal win to defeat reigning USGA Senior Amateur champion Mark Bemowski of Mukwonago, Wis., in the championship match, 1 up, at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga. Rice became the oldest Senior Amateur champion in 18 years (John Richards, the father of two-time Senior Amateur winner Kemp Richardson, was 66 when he won in 1987).

A hot putter on the second 18 holes during the U.S. Amateur final propelled Edoardo Molinari to the title. (John Mummert/USGA)

Kevin Marsh, 32 of Las Vegas, Nev., used a 64 in the second round of stroke-play qualifying to jumpstart his game at the U.S. Mid-Amateur held at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn. Marsh defeated two Mid-Amateur champions (Ken Bakst and Austin Eaton III) en route to the 36-hole final, where he blitzed 29-year-old Carlton Forrester of Birmingham, Ala., 10 and 9.

At the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in Richmond, Texas, , 45, of outlasted stroke-play medalist of Burr Ridge, Ill., 1 up. It was the second time the 42-year-old Postillion had been the runner-up at the championship. Meanwhile, Lapointe became the first foreign-born winner of the Women's Mid-Amateur and the sixth foreign-born USGA champion of 2005.

Although not a national championship, the biennial Walker Cup Match between men's amateur teams from the and and held in mid-August at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill., turned into one of the most dramatic in the history of the event. The regained the Cup for the first time since 1997, 12½-11½, but not before GB&I nearly took the trophy for a fourth consecutive Match. GB&I collected birdies at the 18th hole in three consecutive singles matches to earn two halves and one full point to keep its hopes alive. But Jeff Overton of the two-putted from 18 feet at the 18th hole moments after just missed a long birdie try to preserve a 1-up victory and the final point needed by the side.

2005 USGA Champions

Open

- 280 (even par), by two strokes over Tiger Woods

Pinehurst Resort (No. 2 Course), Village of Pinehurst, N.C. - June 16-19

Women's Open

Birdie - 287 (3 over), by two strokes over and

Cherry Hills Country Club, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. - June 23-26

Women's Amateur Public Links

Eun Jung Lee def. , 37 holes

Memorial Golf Course, Kansas City, Mo. - July 11-16

Amateur Public Links

def. , 1 up