ERIN.
WISC.(Aug. 28, 2011) – Kelly Kraft, 22, of
Denton, Texas, took a 2-up
lead over USA Walker Cup Team member
Patrick Cantlay, 19, of Los
Alamitos, Calif., after the morning 18 of
Sunday’s 36-hole championship
match of the 2011 U.S. Amateur
Championship at 7,760-yard, par-72 Erin
Hills.
Kraft,
a three-time Conference USA Player of the
Year who completed his
eligibility at Southern Methodist University
this year, gained a 4-up
advantage through 16 holes.
Cantlay
began a short rally when he converted a
60-foot putt for birdie on
No.17 and then won 18 with a bogey when
Kraft hit two bunkers on his
approach shots.
“Try
to make mine,” Kraft said when asked
what he thought after Cantlay’s
unlikely birdie at No.17. “I’m happy being 2
up after 18, but we have a
long day ahead of us.
“The
greens are a little harder and faster than
they have been. The wind is
a little different, kind of like yesterday. A
couple of the holes
played pretty long.
Cantlay,
a UCLA sophomore who advanced to the
semifinals of the 2010 Amateur,
birdied the par-5 first hole to take a 1-up
lead. Kraft, who posted
victories at the 2011 Trans-Mississippi
Amateur and Texas State
Amateur, birdied the par-4 fourth from 30
feet to square the match and
won the par-3 sixth following a Cantlay
bogey.
Kraft
extended his lead to 3 up with a birdie on
the 12th hole and another
Cantlay bogey on the 13th.
Cantlay,
who holds the top spot in the World
Amateur Golf Ranking, conceded the
par-5 14th with an eagle after Kraft took
four strokes and was still
short of the elevated putting surface.
The
Californian then hit his drive on the short
par-4 15th over the green
and could not convert a par putt and Kraft
took the par-3 16th when
Cantlay took two strokes to escape a
greenside bunker.
Both
finalists are exempt from qualifying for the
2012 U.S. Open
Championship at The Olympic Club in San
Francisco, Calif., provided
they remain an amateur.
The
winner is exempt from qualifying for the
next British Open Championship
and both finalists have historically received
an invitation to the next
Masters Tournament. In both cases,
the player must remain an
amateur.
The
U.S. Amateur is one of 13 national
championships conducted annually by
the United States Golf Association, 10 of
which are strictly for
amateurs.