Barnes to face Mahan in final

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Hunter Mahan and Ricky Barnes each posted 1-up victories Saturday to advance to the final of the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Mahan defeated Dustin Bray in a battle of 20-year-olds and the 21-year-old Barnes got past 20-year-old Bill Haas, the qualifying medalist and son of PGA veteran Jay Haas.

Mahan, a native of McKinney, Texas, will take on Barnes, a Stockton, Calif. native, in Sunday's 36-hole final.

The winner will gain an exemption into next year's U.S. Open at Olympia Fields Country Club and both finalists will receive an invitation to the 2003 Masters.

Mahan is attempting to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win a U.S. Junior and U.S. Amateur championship. Mahan, entering his junior year at Oklahoma State, captured the U.S. Junior title in 1999.

Mahan and Barnes have played each other once in match play, with Mahan posting a 3 & 2 victory in the second round of the 2000 U.S. Amateur at Baltsurol Golf Club.

Mahan never relinquished the lead after going 1-up on the 11th hole. He sank a 20-footer for birdie on No. 12 to increase his lead.

Bray made a six-footer for par on No. 17 to keep the match alive, then had a chance to force extra holes when Mahan took a bogey on No. 18. But Bray missed a 10-footer for par, giving the win to Mahan.

The other semifinal was a seesaw affair with Barnes emerging victorious after making par on the final hole. The players had halved the previous three holes.

Jay Haas flew in to watch the match after missing the cut at the PGA event in Reno, Nev.

Barnes, a senior-to-be at Arizona, bailed himself out of trouble three times with spectacular wedge play around the greens.

With the match all square at the 18th, Barnes' second shot on the 462-yard hole landed in bunker 100 yards from the green. But he punched a wedge that hit the flagstick before stopping four feet from the pin.

Haas had all kinds of trouble on No. 18 after driving into the right rough. His second shot landed in the fairway, but he left his approach in the front rough, three feet from the green. His chip shot came up 15 feet short of the cup and Haas conceded when he missed the bogey putt.