2002

By Sinking a 2-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole, Charlie Beljan of Mesa, Ariz., defeated Zack Reynolds of Edmond, Okla., and won the final match of the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club's Highlands Course.

On the downhill and water-guarded 154-yard, par 3 17th hole, the second extra hole of the match, Reynolds played first and safely hit a 7-iron on the green to 33 feet from the hole. Beljan, who had last the 18th hole by hitting his second shot in the water while holding a 1-up lead, then fired a 9-iron at the flagstick.

"I thought to myself, I gave the win away on 18," said Beljan, 17. "I can't handle any more of this, lets win or lose it here. I said the heck with the middle of the green. I took dead aim at the flag and hit about two feet."

The highest remaining seed from stroke play, Reynolds, 17 who rebounded from a two-hole deficit after 10 holes, putted first and missed his birdie chance. He was still away and sank his par putt. Then, as he had in winning his semifinal match and in regulation on Saturday, Beljan made his putt for birdie on the second extra hole.

"I pulled it off," said the 6-4, 195-pound Beljan of his daring iron shot. "That was the greatest feeling to know I did it under that kind of pressure on that kind of hole. I couldn't miss it five yards to the left or I couldn't miss it short. To know I hit that shot was just about the best feeling I've had about a golf shot.

Beljan had built a 2-up lead through 12 holes. Then the lanky Arizonian lost holes 13 and 14 with tow straight bogeys.

The match was still all square on the 15th when Reynolds hit his tee shot into the water guarded the front of the 227-yard par 3 and lost the hole.

The 16th hole was halved par and the 17th was halved with birdies.

Beljan lost his lead on 18 when he hit his second shot into the water fronting the green and made double bogey. Reynolds, in he bark chips under the trees off the tee, punched out, hit the green and two-putted to win the hole and send the match to extra holes.

"I had an 8-iron from 165 yards," Beljan said of his second shot into the 462-yard, par-4 18th. "I just wanted to walk off the golf course and go sit by myself."

The first extra hole was again the 18th, which had played as the most difficult hole on the 7,008-yard, par-70 Highlands course during stroke play. Reynolds drove into the water hazard, laid up, wedged to 10 feet and missed his bogey putt. Beljan's drive found the right fairway bunker. He could only advance his ball 40 yards because of the high lip of the bunker and then hit an iron into heavy green-side rough. His chip came up 11 fee short and he missed his putt to send the match to the 17th tee for the second straight extra hole.

The match equals the second-longest championship match with the 1973 Junior, which was won by Jack Renner. The longest final match was a 21-hole victory for Donald Hurter over Keith Banes at the Wilmington (Del.) Country Club in 1978.

Because of weather delays, the championship was extended to six days. The last time a Junior Amateur went beyond the normal five-day schedule was in 1991, when it took six days to crown 15-year-old Tiger Woods as the champion.

In the semifinals, Beljan defeated left-handed Elliott Wainwright, 17 of Hillsborough, Calif,. 2 and 1, by winning the 16th and 17th holes. Wainwright had advanced by eliminating defending champion Henry Liaw in the third round. Beljan needed 107 holes to win his title, just one shy of the record high of 108 set by Shane McMenamy in 1986.

Reynolds had advanced to the final by beating co-medalst Tarik Can, 17 of Douglaston, N.Y., in the semifinals. From the 13th on, he won four consecutive holes to turn a 1-down deficit into a 3-and-2win.