Youngsters Sihwan Kim and David Chung Meet In U.S. Junior Amateur Final

 

Incredible!  David Chung, just 14 years old and 105 pounds, is bidding to become the youngest winner of the Junior Amateur.  (John Mummert/USGA)

San Francisco - Youth is being served at the U.S. Junior Amateur where a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old will meet in the Championship final Saturday at The Olympic Club.

 

Korean-born Sihwan Kim, 15, of Fullerton, Calif., never trailed in his semifinal match, but needed wins on holes 14 and 15 to pull away for a 3-and-2 win over Jon Curran, 17, of Hopkinton, Mass.

 

He will face 14-year-old David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C., who had another come-from-behind win, taking holes 13 and 14 en route to a 2-up win over Sung Kang, 17, of Korea, in his semifinal match.

 

"I was just trying to make it to the quarterfinals," said Chung, a 5-foot-5 105-pounder who wears a bucket hat for good luck.

 

Chung, at 14 years and six months, would become the youngest Junior Amateur champion. Kim, who moved from Seoul to the U.S. in 2000, would become the second youngest champion. Tiger Woods was nearly 15 years and seven months, two months younger than Kim, when he won the first of his three in a row, in 1991.

 

"I am very surprised that I am going to the finals," said Kim, who weighs 200 pounds, nearly 100 pounds more than Chung, and stands 6-foot. "I hope I win, but second is not bad either."

 

Kim, whose first name means "bright start", beat defending champion Brian Harman, 17, of Savannah, Ga., in his morning quarterfinal match, making a hole-winning 10-foot birdie on the 16 th that led to a 1-up win.

 

Chung was 5 holes down in his quarterfinal match before he rallied. He won five of the last seven holes of regulation. He squared the match with a 12-foot downhill birdie putt on the 18 th and won it by making a 15-footer for birdie on the first extra hole. He one-putted four of the last six holes in his match.

 

The winner in this age 17 and under championship receives an exemption into the 2004 U.S. Amateur in August at Winged Foot (N.Y.) Golf Club plus an exemption from local qualifying for the next three U.S. Opens.

 

The Junior Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

 

  

Story written by Craig Smith, director of media relations at the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at csmith@usga.org.

 

 

San Francisco- Results of Friday's quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of match play at 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, at the par 35-35--70, 6,790-yard Olympic Club (Lakeside Course) 

Quarterfinal Results

Sihwan Kim, Fullerton, Calif. (149) def. Brian Harman, Savannah, Ga. (133), 1 up.

Jon Curran, Hopkinton, Mass. (152) def. Juan Pablo Candela, Colombia (149), 2 up.

David Chung, Fayetteville, N.C. (148) def. Robert Riesen, Pinehurst, N.C. (151), 19 holes.

Sung Kang, Korea (142) def. Timothy McKenney, Scottsdale, Ariz. (148), 4 and 3.

 

Semifinal Results

Kim def. Curran, 3 and 2.

Chung def. Kang, 2 and 2.

 

Championship Final Pairing (Time is PDT)

9:00 a.m. - Kim vs. Chung