CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Mitch Voges, who ordinarily does not play golf on Sunday for religious reasons, shot an eagle-3 on the 11th hole and defeated Manny Zerman 7 and 6 to win the 91st U.S. Amateur Championship.
Voges, 41, of Simi Valley, Calif., became the third oldest winner of the event. Jack Westlend won in 1952 at age 47 and Harold Hilton won in 1911 at 42. Voges also became the first non-collegian to win the title since Buddy Alexander in 1986.
In addition to his eagle, Voges reeled off nine birdies.
'Every time he stepped onto the green, I thought his putt was going in the hole,' said Zerman, 21, a 5 and 4 loser to Phil Mickleson in last year's final.
Voges didn't need to putt on the 562-yard, 11th hole. Having watched his 4-up lead sliced in half on Nos. 9 and 10, Voges crafted a 137-yard, 9-iron on the 11th that took two bounces and zeroed in on the pin for an eagle.
'Every time I had a chance to come back, he'd slam the door in my face,' Zerman said.
Voges then sealed his victory with an eight-foot birdie at No. 1, a two-putt birdie to halve the second, a 50-footer at the third and a 12- footer for his fourth straight birdie at the fourth. That left him 7-up.
'I've spent my career chasing down good putts that rimmed the cup,' said Voges, noting that his car's license plate reads Lip Out. 'About a month ago, I went to the 48-inch Slotline Inertial Duck putter, and it took me about 30 minutes to get the hang of it. It's been a really good friend.'
Voges's triumph was a birthday present of sorts for his son Christian, who turned 13 Wednesday. With victory secure, the two embraced on the 12th green.
