Medalist Advances, Defending Champion Eliminated

July 13, 2000

PORTLAND, Ore. – Medalist D.J. Trahan, 19, of Inman, S.C. advanced to the third round of match play at the 75th U.S. Amateur Public Links championship at the 6,969-yard, par 72 Great Blue Course at Heron Lakes with a 6 and 5 win over Martin Maritz, 22, of Tulsa, Okla.

The third round of match play will be contested this afternoon, the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are set for Friday and the 36-hole match-play final is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

Trahan meets Adrian Quintela, 22, of El Paso, Texas in his afternoon third-round match.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Trahan continued his unrelentingly steady play and avoided any costly errors.

“I putted a little better today,” said the Clemson sophomore, who won Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year honors. “I made a few putts. But, I just hit the ball real solid today. I didn’t make any mistakes, didn’t do anything you don’t want to do. I put the ball where I wanted to and I kept the ball in play. I feel like I kept applying the pressure. Doing that is the only thing you can do in match play. If you’re hitting first, you’re making pars and birdies your opponent is going to have to play well with you. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can’t.”

Defending champion Hunter Haas, 23, of Norman, Okla. was defeated in the second round by Jered Gusso, 21, of Savage, Minn., 2 up.

Haas was 2-down with five holes to play but evened the match by winning Nos.14 and 15 with pars. He then bogeyed No.16, halved No.17 with a par and conceded No.18.

Gusso, a rising senior at Methodist College in Minnesota, did not allow his meeting with the defending champion to affect him.

“I watched Hunter play (Wednesday),” said Gusso. “He is an exciting player and I wanted to play him. Who wouldn’t want to play the No. 1 amateur in the country? I really felt the pressure was on Hunter, not me. He is the defending champion, I am the underdog. I came into this match to play the course, not him.”

Last year’s runner-up Michael Kirk, 23, of South Africa, survived a challenge from Chris Rousseau, 19, of Feeding Hills, Mass. to move onto the third round with a 1 up win.

Hunter Mahan, 18, of McKinney, Texas, the 1999 U.S. Junior Amateur champion was eliminated by Craig Lile, 23, of South Africa, 2 up. Lile was exempt because he qualified for this year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Results of Thursday’s second round of match play at the 2000 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at the 6,869-yard , par 72 Great Blue Course at Heron Lakes:

D. J. Trahan, Inman, S.C. (142) def. Martin Maritz (150), 6 and 5 Adrian Quintela, El Paso, Texas (152) def. Andy Roberts, Owensboro, Ky. (147), 20 holes

Tim Donovan, Cincinnati, Ohio (151) def. Erik Compton, Miami, Fla. (144), 6 and 5

Jered Gusso, Savage, Minn. (151) def. Hunter Haas, Norman, Okla. (144), 2 up

Kyle Thompson, Columbia, S.C. (143) def. Andrew Sanders, Merritt Island, Fla. (150), 2 and 1

Russell Bloom, El Cajon, Calif. (152) def. Gilbert Rodriquez, San Diego, Calif. (148), 2 and 1

Chris Morris, Tyler, Texas (144) def. Kevin Zuelch, Key West, Fla. (150), 4 and 3

J J Wall, San Antonio, Texas (146) def. Billy Harvey, Las Vegas, Nev. (148), 1 up

Michael Kirk, South Africa (143) vs. Chris Rousseau, Agawam, Mass. (150), 1 up Tom Johnson, Fair Oaks, Calif. (147) def. John Wine, College Station, Texas (152), 4 and 2

Anton Salome, Socorro, N.M. (149) def. Brian Hughes, Portland, Ore. (153), 1 up

Craig Lile, South Africa (146) def. Hunter Mahan, McKinney, Texas (151), 2 up

Ben Dickerson, Hilliard, Fla. (150) def. James Stewart, Scotland (143), 2 up

Ryan King, Fresno, Calif. (152) def. William Link IV, Action, Mass. (152), 4 and 3

Richard Jarrett, St. Louis, Mo. (150) def. Ryan Hybl, Colbert, Ga. (153), 1 up

Jimmy Walker, Cibolo, Texas (151) def. Matt Krauss, Dumfries, Va. (146), 3 and 1

Pairings for Thursday’s third round of match play at the 2000 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at the 6,869-yard, par 72 Great Blue Course at Heron Lakes:

Trahan vs. Quintela Donovan vs. Gusso Thompson vs. Bloom Morris vs. Wall Kirk vs. Johnson Salome vs. Lile Dickerson vs. King Jarrett vs. Walker