Trevor Immelman

Trevor Immelman, 18, of Cape Town, South Africa, jumped out to a 3 up advantage through the first five holes and went on to defeat Jason Dufner of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, in the 36-hole final match at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif., 3 and 2.

Immelman never trailed in the match but the match didn't come easy. During the first 18 holes Immelman was at one point 3 up. After the 16th hole the lead was down to 1 up. He started the second 18 holes hot, and was 5 up after the 27th hole, but Dufner won both the 12th and 13th holes to get the lead down to 3 up with five holes to play. Immelman closed out the match when both players made par 3s on the 34th hole. Immelman made eight birdies in the final match.

Dufner made a brief run to keep the match alive near the end. He won the 30th hole and then birdied the par-5 31st hole to pull to within three with five holes remaining. " I just made too many mistakes today, especially with him being such a good player," said Dufner.

The APL received 6,300 entries and had seven players exempt into the field, including two past champions: Tim Hogarth(1996) and Guy Yamamoto(1994). Two members of the 1997 Walker Cup team were also exempt: Steve Scott and Randy Leen. Both were eliminated in the first round of match play.

The 36-hole cut to match play came at 4-over-par 148 and featured a 16-for-10 playoff to determine the final berths for match play.