ATLANTA, Georgia (August 17, 2014) --
Gunn Yang was teetering on the verge of
losing his San Diego State golf scholarship for
his upcoming sophomore year. The former
Torrey Pines High School (San Diego) golfer
just hadn't posted the numbers his coach was
looking for. He finished near the back of the
pack in a major college event and more
recently withdrew after nine holes at the
California State Open.
Today he is the U.S. Amateur champion,
having outlasted Canada's Corey Conners --
the favorite on paper ranked No. 3 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Amateur
Rankings going into the event vs. Yang's
underdog-worthy 579th -- by a 2 and 1 margin
in the 36 hole final.
Playing at Atlanta Athletic Club's pedigreed
Highlands Course, that has hosted multiple
USGA events and 2 recent PGA Championships,
Yang became the second Korean (Byeong Hun
An in 2009 did it first) to capture golf's most
prestigious amateur title. The golf wasn't
particularly earth shattering on the morning 18,
which saw Conners make 7 bogeys and Yang
also over par. But Conners birdied all three par
5s, including the 18th which cut a 2-up margin
in half and left him 1-down at the lunch break.
After the break, Conners immediately
squared the match on the 19th hole of the day
with a par as Yang bogeyed. Then, after ties
on the next four holes Yang won two in a row
and held his lead through the 27th hole.
By then, it was apparent that Yang (who
has been criticized for being overly aggressive
especially yesterday when it almost cost him a
semi-final win) had found his driver swing, as
he ripped one down the tight fairway. Bobby
Jones might have again said "he plays a
game with which I'm unfamiliar" as Yangs
ball bounded around the corner to short wedge
distance. But Conners (who hit 3-wood off the
tee earlier) followed suit, wedged close, and
nailed his 10 foot right-to-left birdie putt to
win the hole and narrow the deficit to 1-down
again.
With Taylor Pendrith, his Kent State golf
teammate and fellow Canadian National Team
member on the bag to pump him up, if there
ever was a point to seize the momentum and
start winning some holes this was it.
But after hitting their tee shots on No. 11,
rain started getting heavy and play suspended
with both players about to hit their second
shots. Yang came out from the 45 minute
brea and hit his approach into the short-sided
bunker and was able to get up and down to
keep his lead. A short game that can be
counted on under pressure is huge in match
play and the 20-year-old who was born in
Korea, and spent five years in Australia before
moving to San Diego has one.
Yang stuffed his second shot to 10 feet
for on the par-5 12th, forcing Conners (who
had to lay up) to drain his 20 footer. This was
as huge make for Conners, and when Yang's
eagle putt missed low and left he had plenty of
life heading into the final six.
After trading pars on No. 13, Yang holed a
nice putt with lots of right to left break to
move to 2-up, after 14. Conners still had 8
feet for par and if there ever was a point
where Yang made a statement this was it.
But Yang almost gave it back on the next
hole, where his iron off tee on the par 3
veered right and hit a tree, nearly dropping in
the pond. Once again, the short game saved
him. Yang hit an amazingly deft pitch given the
circumstances saving par and moving closer to
victory.
Yang is an excitable player, and he really
burst into "fired up mode" after he
struck his uphill shot to the green on 16. A
wide-eyed Yang couldn't contain himself as his
Atlanta Athletic Club member and caddie
Richard Grice watched with the same
eagerness. Shouts of "come on - come
on!" could only mean one thing, and
when the ball stuck to four feet caddie and
player high fived.
On the green, after Conners missed, Yang
lipped out his downhill putt to win. But with
the honor on the par three 17th, Yang took on
the far left flag as Gary Koch, doing his final
telecast due to NBC finishing their 20 year run
with the USGA, could only wonder why a
player 2-up would hit that shot. Conners was
more passive-aggressive but equally skilled in
his long iron, finishing 10 feet to the right. But
he failed to convert, and the U.S. Amateur
title belonged to an underdog, Gunn Yang.
He likely won't have to worry about his
scholarship this Fall.
-- photo
courtesy USGA
ABOUT THE
US Amateur
The U.S. Amateur, the oldest USGA
championship, was first played in 1895 at
Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island. The
event,
which has no age restriction, is open to
those
with a Handicap Index of .4 (point four) or lower. It is
one
of 15 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA.
A new two-stage qualifying process went into effect in 2024, providing exemptions through local qualifying for state amateur champions and top-ranked WAGR playres. See the USGA website for details -- applications are typically placed online in the spring
at www.usga.org.
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