BANDON, OREGON (April 26, 2006) -- Greg Norman lost a six stroke overnight lead at the Masters in one of the most famous final round meltdowns in recent golf history. But that wasn't about to happen to Robert Funk and David Bartman at the Two Man Links Championship. Their lead wasn't 6, it was a whopping 11 strokes at the 72-hole best-ball tournament's 54 hole mark.

And Norman didn't have a tournament-tough partner to cover his back like Funk and Bartman did.

The tournament venue -- a variety-packed three course rotation at the Bandon Dunes Resort played over four days -- went Pacific Dunes - Bandon Trails - Pacific Dunes - Bandon Dunes. These aren't easy courses, and despite the overwhelming margin of victory, plenty of quality golf was played by everyone in the field over the course of four rounds (and we know that the best birdie wasn't made by the winners - that honor would go to "tough guy" Norm Boucher, who was hit in the neck by a ball on the 15th tee on Tuesday and responded by getting off the ground and making birdie).

Chris Brauner, of Austin, Texas and his partner Trey Owen, from Houston, shot a remarkable 2-under-par 69 in a full-on test of golf at Bandon Trails in the second round to stand at 5-under-par and just two strokes behind pre-tournament favorites Funk and Bartman at the tournament's halfway point. Both players have national tournament experience, and, along with top-drawer amateurs Mark Lindberg and Bob Neal (another Texas team), were ready for "moving day."

Shoot 10-under-par for 18 holes, however, as Bartman and Funk did in Tuesday's third round, and you're going to see your position on the leaderboard shoot up like Google's share price. If you're already at the top of the leaderboard at the beginning of the day, as they were, and there is only one round left, it's ball game.

Brauner summed it up after getting a first hand look at Funk and Bartman shooting a jaw-dropping 10-under-par 61 at Pacific Dunes on Saturday in the third round, "They won the tournament today, no question about it."

Bartman, a reinstated amateur who won the 2006 Trans-Miss Amateur at Prairie Dunes, and Funk, who recently shot even par over three rounds to capture the Southern California Mid Amateur, shot their best-ever four ball round on a relatively mild weather-day by pouring in 8 birdies and an eagle. Funk lit it up early, recording 5 birdies in the first 11 holes, then an adrenaline-pumping eagle on No. 12. Not wanting to hear about it in the clubhouse after the round, Bartman poured in a few of his own on the way home. And to close the round in style, Funk appropriately finished it out with a deft links-style bump and run up and down on Pacific Dunes' fantastic 18th hole, a rolling par 5 with some of the best bunkering and mounding anywhere.

At Bandon Dunes in the final round, Bartman and Funk settled down a bit, but their 3-under-par 69 got them to a tournament record 20-under-par total for 72 holes; likely to remain in place for a while.

Southern Californians Bobby Forster and Stephen Friend captured the Senior Division in a spirited competition that saw Texans George Adams and Richard Baker whittle away at a 5-stroke lead on the back nine in the final round to get within two strokes; Phil Ekdahl and Mike Hansen were wire-to-wire victors in the Net Division as their first round of 11-under-par 60 set the pace for a 18-under par tournament total. Michael Retter and Ted Geddis made a late charge (they made up 10 strokes on the champions after spotting them 12 strokes in round one) to get within two.

* * *
Tournament Notes:
Special thanks to sponsors UST Golf Shaft, Bridgestone Golf and Fidra Golf for providing a wonderful set of tee prizes that included a dozen Bridgestone B330 Tour golf balls, a beautiful Fidra "Full Proof" jacket, and the utility or fairway club of each player's choice with a UST shaft and a Lamkin grip (provided courtesy of Lamkin Grips). Delivery of the clubs will be in the next 30-60 days, and amateurgolf.com will email you as soon as we have shipping information.We also appreciate the support of The Golfer Magazine in helping us extend the reach of this event.

Another note of thanks to amateurgolf.com staff members Liz McQueen, Art Law, and Casey Courtright, for running the Two Man Links Championship like a Tour event with wonderful signage, scorecards, first tee announcements, conditions of competition, and more. Working hard and smiling are great combinations! We also appreciate the support of Bandon Dunes' entire staff and especially Jamie Fay, our group coordinator, and Steven Borror, PGA, who provided us with the wonderful calligraphy scoreboards and rulings during the week. It has been fun to watch Bandon Dunes grow into a world-class operation over the five years we have been hosting an event there.

Next year's tournament is April 21-25, 2007. Many of you asked if we will give priority to this year's players since we expect another sellout. The answer is yes, in the next 30 days we will email you with a chance to signup with a financial incentive to lock in now.

With the increase in the quality and size of the field and number of states and countries represented has come increased attention and we are very appreciative of Jaime Diaz and J.D. Cuban of Golf World and Golf Digest for making the trip to Oregon to cover the event and the growth of amateurgolf.com. We'll let you know when a story hits the press!

Photos are now available, thanks to Bandon Dunes Resort's official photographer Wood Sabold. You can view photos at: www.bandondunes2manlinks.com/gallery.html (click the appropriate link for 2006). Note: Prints large enough to grace your wall can be ordered directly from Mr. Sabold, who can be reached at photowood@verizon.net.

* * *

Final results from the amateurgolf.com Two Man Links Championship, played April 23-26 are listed below.

Round 1: Pacific Dunes
Championship Division: Par 71, 6633 yards, 72.6/138; Net and Senior: Par 71, 6142 yards, 70.3/134
Round 2: Bandon Trails
Championship Division: Par 71, 6765 yards, 73.4/130; Net and Senior: Par 71, 6260 yards, 70.9/135
Round 3: Pacific Dunes
Championship Division: Par 71, 6633 yards, 72.6/138; Net and Senior: Par 71, 6142 yards, 70.3/134
Round 4: Bandon Dunes
Championship Division: Par 72, 6732 yards, 73.9/142; Net and Senior: Par 72, 6221 yards, 71.1/133

Championship	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot	+/-	Pos	Prize
David Bartman / Robert Funk	65	70	61	69	265	-20	1st	400 ea
Mark Lindberg / Bob Neal	67	72	69	70	278	-7	2nd	300 ea
Chris Brauner / Trey Owen	68	69	70	74	281	-4	3rd	200 ea
Jay Audia / Brad Mombert	71	72	67	72	282	-3	4th	150 ea
Jim Quinn / Ed Turner	68	78	68	71	285	-0-	5th	100 ea
Gregg Hemphill / Michael Ross	70	73	73	71	287
Peter Davison / Greg Wardle	71	76	68	72	287
Doug Clapp / Daniel Russo	70	73	72	72	287
Mike Moxie / David Walker	69	77	69	73	288
Frank Dall / Sherman Haggerty	73	77	66	73	289
Scott Hurley / Brian Johnson	70	75	70	75	290
Erik Hallgrimson / Pete Wlodkowski	71	81	71	68	291
Brad Kropp / Bill Roberts	73	76	71	75	295
Brad Christianson / Craig Christianson	78	80	67	74	299
Dave Cannon / Jamie Rector	75	80	72	75	302
Skip Pankewich / Randy Stuart	75	78	77	79	309
Senior (each player 50+)	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot	+/-	Pos	Prize
Bob Forster / Stephen Friend	66	72	71	74	283	-2	1st	350 ea
George Adams / Richard Baker	72	70	70	73	285	-0-	2nd	250 ea
Michael Davis / Ben Whipple	71	76	70	70	287	+2	3rd	175 ea
Norm Duncan / Brian McGuire	71	75	72	73	291	+6	4th	125 ea
G. Scott Howard / Gordon Pogorelc	74	76	73	71	294	+8	5th	100 ea
Jack Robinson / Gil Wymond	76	74	70	75	295
Stan Eggers / Alec Grant	73	77	74	72	296
Jon Lipton / Eric Silver	78	74	76	77	305
Eric Hauser / Charles Mazzola	80	81	75	72	308
Harvey Campbell / Louis Long	78	80	75	75	308
Charles Gow / Joseph McCoy	73	77	79	79	308
Bayne Boyes / Edward Pearce	76	80	74	79	309
Frank Joga / Thomas Kelly	77	80	73	80	310
Fredrick Callahan / Patrick Thornton	75	75	79	81	310
Barry Lefkowitz / Bruce Lowen	77	81	81	74	313
Net	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot	+/-	Pos	Prize
Phil Ekedahl / Mike Hansen	60	70	69	68	267	-18	1st	400 ea
Ted Geddis / Michael Retter	72	69	62	66	269	-16	2nd	300 ea
Craig Ratcliffe / Ken Schwoerer	63	71	68	70	272	-13	3rd	200 ea
Shawn Hennessy / Joe Pulford	66	70	70	67	273	-12	4th	150 ea
Greg Bunting / Mitchell Friedman	65	72	67	70	274	-11	5th	50 ea
Stephen Janachowski / Greg Leograndis	71	65	67	71	274	-11	5th	50 ea
Michael Stevens ./ George Stevens	64	73	70	68	275
Len Biss / Scott Hendin	71	71	65	69	276
Roland Hennessy / Lloyd Hennessy	66	71	72	68	277
Al Richardson / Jim Thurman	69	71	73	66	279
Jim Tarbell / T Tarbell	68	75	68	70	281
Stephen Steppe / Peter Steppe	69	72	70	73	284
Todd Beatty / Alan Guterman	69	76	73	72	290
Norm Boucher / Tim Burke	74	75	68	73	290
Ron Morris / Michael Tiret	73	77	74	69	293
Norman Lippit / Tom Pullman	76	86	70	71	303
Robert May / Jim Smith	70	77	73	wd	220
Frederick Baedeker / Brad McKinzie	66	69	75	wd	210

Low Rounds of the Day ($75 per player in proshop credit)

Round 1 at Pacific Dunes
Championship: David Bartman/Robert Funk - 65
Senior: Bob Forster/Stephen Friend - 66
Net: Phil Ekedahl/Mike Hansen - 60

Round 2 at Bandon Trails
Championship: Trey Owen/Chris Brauner - 69
Senior: George Adams/Rich Baker - 70
Net: Stephen Janachowski/Greg Leograndis - 65

Round 3 at Pacific Dunes
Championship: David Bartman/Robert Funk - 61
Senior: (Tie) George Adams/Rich Baker; Michael Davis/Ben Whipple; Jack Robinson/Gil Wymond - 70
Net: Ted Geddis/Michael Retter - 62

Round 4 at Bandon Dunes (low round out of overall money)
Championship: Pete Wlodkowski and Erik Hallgrimson - 68
Senior: (Tie) Charles Mazzola/Eric Hauser; Stan Eggers/Alec Grant - 72
Net: Al Richardson/Jim Thurman - 66

FINAL RESULTS: PGA Tour Q-School First Stage

LIVE SCORING AND PREVIEW: USA vs. Europe Concession Cup Matches are underway

2024 East Lake Cup: How to watch the final round

2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball qualifying roundup

Charlie Woods helps Benjamin School secure district championship