GUNN YANG WINS 2014 U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
114th U.S. Amateur Championship conducted by
the United States Golf Association (www.usga.org)
JOHNS CREEK,
Ga. – Gunn Yang, 20, of the Republic of Korea, defeated Corey Conners, of
Canada, 2 and 1, in the 36-hole final match Sunday to win the 2014 U.S. Amateur
Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club’s 7,208-yard, par-71 Highlands Course.
“I was just trying
to make it to the match-play portion, really,” said Yang, a San Diego State
University sophomore who had back surgery in May 2013. “That was the goal,
first of all. And then when I made it to the match play, I was like, maybe I
can do this. I was just trying to go through by every single match, just trying
to play my game and trying to see how it goes, and I got the trophy. So, I’m
really excited and really happy about it.”
Yang, who
grew up in Korea and played competitive amateur golf in Australia for five
years, is the second Korean-born player to win the U.S. Amateur, joining
Byeong-Hun “Ben” An, who claimed the title at Southern Hills Country Club in
Tulsa, Okla., in 2009.
Conners, 22,
a recent graduate of Kent State University in Ohio who lost to eventual
champion Matt Fitzpatrick in the 2013 semifinals, was vying to become the first
Canadian winner since Gary Cowan in 1971. He was the first player since Patrick
Cantlay in 2010 (semifinals) and 2011 (final) to advance to at least the
semifinals in back-to-back years.
Yang, who
was playing in his first U.S. Amateur after qualifying on July 21 at Hacienda
Golf Club in La Habra Heights, Calif., held a 1-up lead through the morning 18
holes. He never trailed in the match.
“I haven’t
won a tournament for a long time, like maybe five or six years,” said Gunn. “I
was going through my injury, also. I was just trying to play my game.
Obviously, it just popped in my head that if I beat Corey, then I win the
trophy. But, I was just trying to concentrate and just trying to hit balls and
just put it next to the hole and make the putt.”
Conners, a
member of the Canadian national team, won the first hole of the afternoon 18 to
square the match and that status held until Yang won the 24th and 25th holes
for a 2-up advantage.
Yang led 1
up through 28 holes when the match was suspended at 4:25 p.m. because of
dangerous weather. Both players had hit their drives in the fairway on the 29th
hole. Play resumed at 6:02 p.m.
“He struck
the ball great,” Conners said of Yang. “He made a lot of key putts when he
needed to and didn’t really have any weaknesses out there. He didn’t give me
any openings to climb through.”
Yang’s
sloping, 18-foot birdie putt on the 32nd hole pushed him to 2-up. Conners, the
Mid-American Conference co-player of the year, missed birdie opportunities on
the next three holes and Yang’s two-putt for a halving par on the par-3, 35th
hole closed the match.
“Especially
the second round, I had a lot of looks for birdie,” Conners said. “I had a
bunch of birdie tries. I thought I hit nice putts. They just slipped by and
that was kind of frustrating not to have any of those drop and win some holes.”
Yang
receives a gold medal and custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for the next year. By
virtue of reaching the U.S. Amateur Championship final, Yang and Conners each
earned an exemption into the 2015 U.S. Open – provided they remain amateurs –
and a likely invitation to the 2015 Masters Tournament. The champion receives
an exemption into the 2015 British Open Championship.
All
quarterfinalists earn an exemption into the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields
(Ill.) Country Club.
JOHNS
CREEK, Ga. – Result from Sunday’s championship round of match play at the 2014
U.S. Amateur Championship at 7,208-yard, par-71 Atlanta Athletic Club‘s
Highlands Course (stroke-play qualifying score in parentheses):
Championship
(36 holes)
Gunn Yang,
Republic of Korea (141) def. Corey Conners, Canada (142), 2 and 1