Clay Ogden

Clay Ogden, 20, of West Point, Utah, rallied from a fourhole deficit after the first nine holes of the 36-hole final match to defeat Martin Ureta, 19, of Chile, 1 up, to win the 2005 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio.

Ogden, a rising junior at Brigham Young University, became the fourth player from Utah to win a USGA championship, joining George Von Elm (1926 U.S. Amateur), D. Scott Hailer (1995 U.S. Junior) and Annie Thurman-Young (2002 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links).

Ureta, a junior-to-be at the University of North Carolina where he was an honorable-mention All-American in 2004-05, had the lead or was all square for 33 holes of the final.

The pivotal hole came at the par-4 34th when Ureta's approach stopped 12 feet below the hole. Ogden followed with one of his best shots of the week, a pitching wedge from 118 that stopped 2 feet from the flag. Ureta came up just short on his putt and Ogden converted.

"It was probably one of the best shots I have hit under the circumstances," said Ogden, who chipped in for birdie on the same hole during the morning 18. "I was thinking about hitting a little 9[-iron], but my dad said, `I think it's a good wedge.' I hit a good wedge and it worked out pretty well."

The two competitors halved the par-5 35th with birdies - Ogden made a 5-footer after reaching the green in two - and the par-4 36th, with Ogden closing it out with a 2-foot par save.

A year ago, Ogden lost to the eventual champion, Ryan Moose, in the quarterfinals, 2 and 1. This year, he barely qualified for match play, surviving a 10-for-7 playoff to get the second-to-last spot in the draw.

He also likely will be the answer to a trivia question

as the competitor who eliminated 15-year-old Michelle Wie of Honolulu, Hawaii. Wie became the first female to ever qualify for a USGA championship, which had traditionally only male players. The 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links winner advanced through three matches before Ogden defeated her, 5 and 4, in the quarterfinals.

"I don't think I've ever been that focused [for a match], and I tried to carry that into [the final]," said Ogden, "because I knew it meant just as much."

Ureta won four of the first seven holes as Ogden started slowly with two three-putt greens. But Ureta saw his lead dwindle by the 18th hole as Ogden rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt to trim the deficit to just 1 down going into lunch. Ureta upped the advantage to 2 holes with a birdie on the 27th hole, but again saw Ogden square the match twice on the back nine, including a clutch 8-iron approach to the 33rd hole to set up a 5-foot birdie.

At the next hole, Ogden took the lead for good, even though it looked like Ureta might get away with a halve.

"I was thinking birdie, birdie, birdie the whole time," said Ureta of his mindset after his stellar approach at the 34th. "Then I saw what he did. I knew I had to make it. That was the match.

"He's just a really solid player. He might not be as accomplished as ... some of the great names who were here this week, but he came out on top. He just proved to everybody that he has the game to do it. He's an unbelievable player."

In the semifinals, Ureta defeated stroke-play medalist Anthony Kim of La Quinta, Calif., in 20 holes, rolling in a 12-foot, left-to-right breaking putt to pull out the win. In his semifinal, Ogden eliminated Garrett Jones of Rewey, Wis., 2 and 1.

But it was the victory over Wie that had everyone at Shaker Run, and beyond, talking. Wie consistently drew crowds of 500 to 1,500 people for her stroke-play rounds and matches. In comparison, the final drew around 100 spectators.

"She made it a lot bigger deal," said Ogden. "The crowd got into it a little more. It's hard to believe."