USGA

MCKNIGHT AND KUCHAR
AMONG FIVE NAMED TO U.S.
WALKER CUP TEAM

FAR HILLS, N.J. - Last year's U.S. Amateur runner-up Tom McKnight and the 1997 champion Matt Kuchar are two of the five amateur golfers named as members of the U.S. squad for next month's Walker Cup Match versus a team from Great Britain and Ireland. The remainder of the 10-man squad will be selected following the 1999 U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links on Aug. 16-22.

The Walker Cup Match will be played Sept. 11-12 at Nairn Golf Club in Nairn, Scotland, consisting of 16 singles and eight foursomes (alternate shot) matches. The Great Britain and Ireland amateur team is likely to be announced in full this week (Aug. 2-6).

McKnight and Kuchar are joined on the team by collegians Jonathan Byrd and Edward Loar, and career amateur Tim Jackson. Danny Yates, 49, of Atlanta, Ga., a past U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (1992) who played for the 1989 and 1993 U.S. squads, is the team captain.

McKnight, 45, of Galax, Va., defeated Sergio Garcia in a semifinal match en route to his match with Hank Kuehne in last year's U.S. Amateur final. McKnight lost, 2 and 1, but his fine play helped him qualify to compete in this year's Masters Tournament and U.S. Open. He also has four top-10 finishes in national stroke-play amateur events over the past two years, including a runner-up finish at the 1998 Eastern Amateur.

Kuchar, 22, of Lake Mary, Fla., stepped into the 1997 U.S. Amateur spotlight on his way to edging Joel Kribel in the final match, 2 and 1. Kuchar followed his Amateur win with a 14th place finish at the 1998 U.S. Open. He also has played in the last two Masters Tournaments, and the 1998 British Open. He reached the quarterfinals of the 1998 Amateur, losing to Garcia in a memorable match.

Byrd, 21, of Columbia, S.C., has been a consistently strong finisher this summer. He won the Northeast Amateur, was a runner-up in a playoff at the Porter Cup, and placed third at the Southern Amateur.

Jackson, 40, of Germantown, Tenn., a Walker Cup player in 1995 following his 1994 win at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, has five top-10 finishes in national amateur stroke-play competitions over the past two summers. He won the 1998 North and South, and in 1999 he was third at the Sunnehanna and fourth at the Porter Cup.

Loar, 21, of Rockwall, Texas, secured his selection with back-to-back wins at the Sunnehanna and Southern Amateur this summer. In 1998 competitions, he was runner-up at the Southern and fourth at the Southwestern Amateur. In 1997, he reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur.

The Walker Cup Match is held every two years, alternately in the United States and the Great Britain/Ireland/Scotland region. Four foursomes and eight singles matches are played each day, with a total of 24 team points available. The team earning the majority of the points takes custody of the Cup until the next Match.

Begun in 1922, the United States leads the series, 31-4-1. The sides have spilt the last two Matches, with Great Britain and Ireland winning in 1995 at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Porthcawl, Wales, 14-10, before the U.S. won at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., in 1997, 18-6.