Hunter Haas

Hunter Haas, 22, of Fort Worth, Texas, made nine birdies and never trailed on his way to defeating Michael Kirk of Las Vegas, Nev., 4 and 3, in the 36-hole final match of the U.S. Amateur public Links Championship at Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course in Alton, Ill.

The pivotal point of the match came in the morning round on the par-4 13th hole when Haas, after Kirk hit his approach shot to four feet, holed out for birdie from a hazard to halve the hole and remain 1 up, which is where the match stood at the end of the first 18 holes.

"When a guy makes birdie you know you have to make your putt," said Haas.

A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, who plays at UNLV, Kirk fell just short of being the third consecutive South African to win an U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. Tim Clark was the champion in 1997; Trevor Immelman in 1998.

"I just didn't get up in the match," said Kirk. "Every time I thought I'd get one he would do something spectacular."

After the second hole, Haas was either 1-up or all square with Kirk until the 27th hole when he went 2 up. Haas birdied the 31st hole and found himself 3 up with five holes to play. After Kirk hit his tee shot out of bounds on the par-5 33rd hole and Haas reached the green in two, the hole was conceded.

A total of 5,714 entries were received for the Championship. The field was set at 156 players, six of which werer exempt into the field. They included: James Oh (1998 U.S. Junior Amateur champion) and Guy Yamamoto (1994 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion). Although not exempt, Scott Hailes (1995 U.S. Junior champion) was also in the field.

The cut to match play came at 2-over-par 146 and featured an 11-for-2 playoff to determine the final berths for match play.

The Championship received four hours of live television coverage via the ESPN network for the semi-final and final rounds.

Haas, a golfer at the University of Oklahoma, was later chosen to be a member of the 1999 U.S. Walker Cup squad.