 | Matthew Every, 22, Daytona Beach, Fla. - Every qualified
for the 2005 U.S. Open and took honors for low amateur,
finishing tied for 28th after rounds of 75-73-73-70. His
final round was tied for the fifth best of the day. He earned first team All-America honors for 2004 and
2005 at the University of Florida. He will be a senior at
Florida this fall. Outside the college ranks, he was a member of the
winning 2005 Palmer Cup team. He tied for 12th and finished
third in the 2005 and 2004 Northeast Amateur respectively,
and he has played in the 2004 U.S. Amateur and the last
three U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships. He was an
APL quarterfinalist in 2003. He once shot 61 in a high school round in Florida, where
he was an all-state selection his junior and senior
seasons. He is a member of the National Honor Society. |
|
 | Anthony Kim, 20, La Quinta, Calif. - Kim was the
medalist at the 2005 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship
and reached the semifinals before losing in 20 holes. He
made 19 birdies during a three-match stretch where he never
played beyond the 15th hole. One of his stroke play rounds
was a 5-under-par 65, including a 30 on his second nine,
tying an event record. A first-team All-American at the University of Oklahoma
where he will be a junior, Kim was the 2005 Player of the
Year in the Big 12 Conference and won the individual
Conference title in 2005, shooting three consecutive
under-par rounds to win by six strokes. He was the Freshman
of the Year in the Conference in 2004. He won the 2004 Northeast Amateur and was 12th at the
same event in 2005. He also played in the 2004 Amateur
Public Links and the 2004 U.S. Amateur, reaching the second
round of match play in both. A four-time junior All-American, Kim was the 2001
California Junior Player of the Year. He won his first
national event at age 13. |
|
 | Brian Harman, 18, Savannah, Ga. - Harman stepped on the
national stage by winning the 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur
title at age 16. He kept the spotlight by winning the
recent Players Amateur by six strokes. Closer to home, the lefty Harman won the 2005 Georgia
Amateur title, becoming the first golfer to win both the
Georgia Junior (2002 and 2003) and Georgia Amateur
crowns. In addition to winning the Players Championship in 2005,
Harman finished in the top-10 at this year's Azelea,
Northeast Amateur and Sunnehanna Amateur. He is the youngest to be named to the USA team. He was
the fourth golfer to ever win the American Junior Golf
Association Player of the Year honors twice, joining Tracey
Phillips, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. He was given a
sponsor's exemption to compete in the 2004 MCI Heritage
PGA Tour event. He is an incoming freshman at the
University of Georgia. |
|
 | John Holmes, 23, Campbellsville, Ky. - Holmes'
steady play earned him a spot on the 2005 USA Walker Cup
team. He had his best showing in top collegiate play,
finishing sixth at the 2004 NCAA Championship and seventh
at this year's NCAA. He also had a 10th place finish at the 2005 Monroe
Invitational and he was 12th at the 2005 Northeast Amateur.
In 2004, he played on the USA Palmer Cup team and he
reached the third round of match play at the U.S.
Amateur. Closer to home in 2004, Holmes won his second Kentucky
State Amateur title in three years and won the Kentucky
State Open. He shot team-leading scores during the final
two rounds of match play to help Team USA to victory over
Team Japan at the Collegiate Golf Championship
challenge. He qualified for the 2003 U.S. Open and was the stroke
play medalist at the 2003 U.S. Amateur. Holmes won the 1998 state high school title. He has
overcome dyslexia since entering the University of Kentucky
and now carries a 3.25 grade-point average and is a
semester away from graduating. |
|
 | Billy Hurley, 23, Leesburg, Va. - A 2004 graduate of the
U.S. Naval Academy, Hurley gained his place on the 2005 USA
Walker Cup team with by winning the 2004 Byron Nelson Award
as the top senior collegiate player and sportsman and by
having four top-10 finishes in leading amateur events over
a two-year period. He was runner-up at the 2005 Northeast
Amateur and the 2004 Monroe Invitational. He was a member of the 2004 Palmer Cup team. He was
fifth at the 2005 Azalea and ninth at the 2004 Porter Cup.
He also was 12th at the 2004 Northeast Amateur. Hurley also
has won the last two Virginia State Amateur titles, taking
the 2005 trophy home after a one-sided 9-and-8 win in which
he took eight consecutive holes. Upon graduation, Ensign Hurley served as a surface
warfare officer aboard the U.S.S. Gettysburg in Florida and
is currently assisting part-time in the Economics
department at the Naval Academy. While at Navy, he won the Thompson Trophy Cup, given to
the midshipman who has done the most to promote athletics
at the Academy. He was the 2004 Patriot League Player of
the Year and was a four-time All-Conference selection. |
|
 | Jeff Overton, 22, Evansville, Ind. - Overton won the Big
Ten Conference individual title and tied the course record
twice with rounds of 65 in the process, capping a senior
season for Indiana University where he earned Player of the
Year honors in the Conference. He also finished with a
stroke average of 69.87. Overton was a member of this year's victorious
Palmer Cup squad, captured the 2005 Lakewood Invitational
and was tied for third at the Monroe Invitational, keeping
the momentum going from 2004, when he was a semifinalist at
the U.S. Amateur (losing to eventual champion Ryan Moore).
Also in 2004, he finished second at the Porter Cup and
sixth at the Sunnehanna. A three-time all-state choice as a high school golfer,
Overton led Evansville North High to the state title as a
junior. |
|
 | Michael Putnam, 22, Tacoma, Wash. - Putnam earned the
2005 Byron Nelson Award as the top senior college golfer
and sportsman after concluding a season where he was a
first-team All-American and runner-up in the NCAA
Championship (lost in a three-hole playoff). He broke his
own scoring record by averaging just 70.58 over 45 rounds,
with 10 top-10 finishes. In June, Putnam helped the USA to victory in the Palmer
Cup, a college all-star team competition versus a
collegiate team from Europe. Then he qualified for his
first U.S. Open. He was fourth at the 2004 NCAA Championship, won the
2004 Pacific Coast Amateur, and had top-10s at the 2004
Sunnehanna and the 2004 Northeast Amateur. He combined golf with basketball at Life Christian
Academy (high school) in Tacoma, Wash., where he scored
more than 1,200 points. He carried a 3.96 grade-point
average and was class salutarian . |
|
 | Kyle Reifers, 21, Dublin, Ohio - Reifers came on strong
this summer with his win over a talented field at the
Northeast Amateur, where he posted all four rounds in the
60s. It was the end of a three-week stint that started with
top-10 finishes at the Sunnehanna Amateur and the Monroe
Invitational. He also served notice early in 2004 by reaching the
semifinals of the North & South Amateur. Also in 2004,
he won the Monroe, reached the "sweet 16" at the
Western Amateur and qualified for the U.S. Amateur. Reifers is heading into his senior season at Wake Forest
University, looking to improve upon his 2005 selection as a
third-team All-American. Reifers led the Demon Deacons to
the NCAA East Regional title. Reifers was the MVP of his golf squad at Bishop
Watterson High School, where he received the school's
leadership award as a senior. His father, Randy, played
golf at DePauw University and is a member of the Ohio Golf
Hall of Fame. |
|
 | Nicholas Thompson, 22, Coral Springs, Fla. - Thompson is
a four-time college All-American for Georgia Tech who was a
second-team pick for 2005. He was a finalist for the Byron
Nelson Award, given annually to a senior for accomplishment
and sportsmanship. He made his mark on the committee at the Sunnehanna
Amateur, where he finished third in 2004 and second in
2005, losing in a playoff. He also won the 2005 Jones Cup
and was fourth at the 2004 Porter Cup. He lost in the third
round of the 2004 U.S. Amateur to Walker Cup teammate Jeff
Overton. Thompson has already qualified for four Amateurs,
with a fifth coming later this August. His first Amateur
competition was in 1999 at Pebble Beach. A recent college graduate, Thompson was a Dean's
List student. He concluded his college career with 35
rounds in the 60s and a best round of 65. |
|
 | Lee Williams, 23, Alexander City, Ala. - Williams is a
returning member to the USA Walker Cup squad, having been
first selected in 2003. In 2003, Williams was 0-1-1 in
foursomes and 0-0-1 in singles, halving his match on the
last day with Nigel Edwards (again a member of the GB&I
squad). A recent graduate from Auburn University, Williams was a
member of the victorious 2004 USA World Amateur Team that
played in Puerto Rico. The highlight of his recent play is
his eagle on the final hole of his sectional qualifier that
earned him a berth in the 2005 U.S. Open. He has played well in amateur events, too. In 2004, he
was fourth at the Porter Cup, fifth at the Southern and
sixth at the Cardinal. He was eighth at the 2005 Northeast
Amateur. The career scoring average record-holder at Auburn with
his 72.38 mark, Williams plans to turn professional at the
end of the summer season. |