Flashback: Reavie Wins 2001 APL Championship

Chez Reavie, 19, of Mesa, Ariz., playing in his first USGA championship, outlasted U.S. Walker Cup player Danny Green, 44, Jackson, Tenn., to win the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, in 38 grueling holes.

Reavie defeated Green at the 7,005-yard, par 71 Pecan Valley Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas, when he made a par to Green’s bogey. With the victory, Reavie won the national championship and an invitation to the 2002 Masters.

"When I won I thought, 'Wow, it’s over. I did it.' My caddie hugged me and I thought, 'Wow, I’m going to Augusta,'" said Reavie.

The experience of the veteran Green, who won the 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, gave him a strategic edge over Reavie, but hot weather worked against him. Temperatures hovered in the upper 90s.

"On the 22nd and 23rd holes I hit a wall," admitted Green. "I didn’t have any strength in my arms and legs."

On the 37th hole, Green had a chance to win the championship when he hit his approach shot to within 3½ feet of the hole. Reavie made a par, sinking a 4-footer on his second putt. Then Green missed his best opportunity.

"I would have made that putt 99 out of 100 times," said Green.

At the 38th hole, Green drove into the rough, hit his second shot into a bunker and made a bogey. Reavie hit his second shot on the green to within 12 feet of the hole, then got down in two putts to win the hole, the match and the championship.