Oklahoma State University Athletics
Peter Uihlein Wins U.S. Amateur
August 29, 2010 | Cowboy Golf
Aug. 29, 2010
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. - Oklahoma State's Peter Uihlein became the fourth Oklahoma State player to win the U.S. Amateur Championship, defeating Stanford's David Chung, 4 and 2, on Sunday at Chambers Bay.
Competing on his 21st birthday, Uihlein never trailed over the course of the 36-hole match after grabbing the lead on the second hole.
During the morning 18, Uihlein used a birdie at the par-4 second to jump in front and went birdie-par on Nos. 4-5 to build a 3-up lead. Chung answered with a win at the seventh before Uihlein won the ninth to go back up by three at the turn.
Chung got hot on the inward nine, making five birdies. However, he was only able to trim one hole from Uihlein's lead. Chung won the 11th with a birdie before the duo halved the next five holes. The 16th was halved with birdies before Chung won the par-3 17th with a birdie after nearly holing his tee shot.
Despite Chung's third-straight birdie at the par-5 18th, Uihlein was able to win the hole after chipping in for an eagle to go into the intermission with a 2-up lead. With his eagle at 18, Uihlein shot the equivalent of 66 after carding five birdies as well.
The duo halved the first five holes of the front nine with a bogey at the first followed by four-straight pars before Uihlein's par at the sixth extended his lead to three once again. The Orlando, Fla., native went to 4-up with 10 to play after making a birdie at the par-5 eighth. After Chung holed a wedge from the fairway for par, Uihlein calmly converted his up-and-down from the right side of the green, sinking an eight-foot putt for his birdie to maintain the momentum.
On the inward nine, Chung mounted a charge with wins at Nos. 10 and 11 to quickly cut the margin in half.
Both players conceded birdie putts on the 12th and halved the 13th as well to leave Uihlein 2-up with five holes remaining. The 2010 first-team All-American hit a clutch iron shot from a fairway bunker to 15 feet on the 14th before draining his birdie putt to move back to 3-up and seize control of the match again.
After halving the 246-yard, par-3 15th, Uihlein drove the par-4 16th while Chung found trouble off the tee. Unable to get up and down, Chung conceded the hole and gave Uihlein his second major amateur victory of the summer. He also won the Sahalee Players Championship at the nearby Home Course in July.
Uihlein was OSU's first finalist since the Cowboys had back-to-back championship-match participants in Hunter Mahan (2002) and Casey Wittenberg (2003). He joins Labron Harris, Jr. (1962), Bob Dickson (1967) and Scott Verplank (1984) as Cowboys to have hoisted the Havemeyer Trophy.
By winning amateur golf's most prestigious tournament, Uihlein gains entry into next year's Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open and the British Open.
Additionally, Uihlein was one of three players named by the USGA to represent the United States at the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship Oct. 28-31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Teammate Morgan Hoffmann was named an alternate for the squad.
