USGA

HUNTER MAHAN CAPTURES
U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

YORK, Pa. - Hunter Mahan, 17, McKinney, Texas, defeated Camilo Villegas, 17, Colombia, 4 and 2, in the final to win the United States Junior Amateur Championship at the 6,445-yard, par 70 Country Club of York.

"This ranks number one on my trophy shelf," said Mahan. "It was a tough match. I knew it wasn't going to be easy."

Villegas jumped out to an early lead, winning the second hole with a birdie, the third with a par and the fourth with a birdie to go 3-up after four holes. Mahan won the fifth and seventh holes with pars. At the ninth, Mahan lagged a 35-foot birdie putt to within a few inches of the hole and Villegas conceded the par. Villegas chipped some six feet short of the hole and missed the putt to lose the hole and the match was square. That's when Mahan began a string of five birdies in the next seven holes.

The par-4 10th hole was dramatic. Villegas hit his second shot to within three feet of the hole. Mahan missed the green, then chipped in from about 30 feet to stay even in the match.

"I hit it, it checked and started rolling and I thought it could go in," said Mahan of his chip shot. "That chip was big. It gave me a big break." Villegas said he was unaffected by an enthusiastic gallery of about 800, the largest he had played before. "When I was playing, it was like nobody was there."

Mahan won the 11th with a 15-foot birdie putt and won the 12th with a par to go 2-up. He halved the 14th hole with a birdie, then birdied the 15th, hitting a 3-iron to within 12 feet of the hole. He was 3-up with three holes to play. When he hit a 185-yard 4-iron shot to within three feet of the hole on #16 and Villegas missed the green, Mahan knew the championship was his.

"I thought, 'This is it. This is what you've worked for all summer,'" he said.

Villegas was philosophical. "It was a great experience, a great tournament, and I played good," he said. "It's a week I'll never forget. I learned that I can do it and I can win. I know I can. I have to keep working, but this gave me a lot of confidence."

As finalists in the U.S. Junior Amateur, one of thirteen national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association, Mahan and Villegas are exempt from sectional qualifying for the United States Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Both plan to play.

In the morning's semifinal round Mahan made seven birdies in the 15 holes of his match against Matthew Rosenfeld, 15, Plano, Texas, and won, 4 and 3.

Villegas was trailing by one hole in his semifinal match against Jason Hartwig, 17, Sacramento, Calif., when he rolled in a breaking, 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to even the match. Villegas won when he birdied the first extra hole and Hartwick parred.

A Friday night storm accompanied by hail the size of tennis balls caused some damage to the course and delayed the start of Saturday play. Some 150 volunteers began repairing damage to the greens at 6:30 a.m. "By 8 o'clock, they had fixed every green," said Dave Donnelly, the USGA's director of the championship. "You couldn't even tell that there had been any hail."

Results from the United States Junior Amateur Championship at the 6,445-yard, par 70 Country Club of York.

SEMIFINAL
Hunter Mahan, McKinney, Texas, def. Matthew Rosenfeld, Plano, Texas, 4 and 3.

Camilo Villegas, Colombia, def. Jason Hartwig, Sacramento, Calif., 1 up (19).

FINAL
Mahan def. Villegas, 4 and 2.