South Korea against US in Amateur final

BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 US Amateur Championship | Semi-Finals | 30 Aug 2009

Byeong-Hun An, a 17-year-old South Korean native, is just one win away from being the youngest champion in the history of the US Amateur.

In just his second time qualifying for the US Amateur, An made the match play portion for the first time and has reeled off five straight victories to reach tomorrow’s 36-hole final against fourth-seeded American, Ben Martin.

New Zealand’s Danny Lee was 18 years and one month when he won the 2008 US Amateur to break Tiger Woods’ age record by just under seven months. An, who will turn 18 in September, could break Lee’s mark by a month and a half.

An accounted for Bhavik Patel during today’s semi-final at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, winning three holes straight at the end to secure their match 3&2.

The other semi-final was the opposite story with Martin in control from the start in his match against Charlie Holland, after Holland rattled off four straight bogeys of the first six holes to give Martin a 4-up lead on his way to a 5-and-4 victory. Holland was all but sunk when he missed a 3-footer to halve the ninth hole and fall to 5 down.

This US Amateur is arguably going to go down as the championship where the top seeds simply fell away early. Of the 16 players who advanced on Thursday who finished in the top 10 after stroke qualification, only the second-seeded Mark Anderson from South Carolina and fourth-seeded Ben Martin from Clemson had survived. By Friday’s quarter-finals, just one of the top 20 qualifiers were left among the eight golfers, namely Martin.

Martin, ranked 46th in the world, finished in a tie for 2nd at this year’s US Amateur Medal. The American’s only other solid finish this season was a tie for 12th at the Sunnehanna Amateur back in June.

An, ranked 81st in the world, has been based in Bradenton, Florida for the last three years since his family moved from South Korea to take advantage of better golfing facilities in the US.

This season An’s best result has been a quarter-final finish at the Western Amateur. According to An, he has won only one tournament since he started playing at age 6, the Nike Golf Junior at Marshallia Ranch in California back in 2006. He was the runner-up at this year’s American Junior Golf Association Rolex Tournament of Champions.

While the top prize will be decided in tomorrow’s 36-hole final, both finalists have gained one the biggest of US Amateur perks, the traditional invitation to play in next year’s Masters at Augusta National and a spot in the starting field at the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, providing they retain their amateur status.

The US Amateur final is set to be a contest between the veteran college player and a soon-to-be college freshman. Martin, 21, is a fifth-year senior at Clemson State, whilst An is a high school senior at Bradenton who has verbally committed to play out of California next season.

With the top names like Rickie Fowler, Bud Cauley, Nathan Smith and Morgan Hoffmann, falling in this US Amateur championship, the door had opened earlier in the week for lesser known players to make their name.

It was 20 years ago at the US Amateur that Chris Patton became the first and only player from South Carolina and Clemson to take home the coveted Havenmeyer Trophy. Martin will be seeking to add to that list.

An, too, will be playing for a little history of his own as a win tomorrow would make him only the second Korean-born champion, behind Danny Lee to win the coveted trophy and, of course, the youngest.