Barnes wins U.S. Amateur

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Ricky Barnes built a 4-up lead with nine holes to play Sunday and then held on to defeat Hunter Mahan, 2 & 1, in the finals of the U.S. Amateur Championship.

"I'm on top of the world right now, in my book," said Barnes. "I've won a couple of tournaments in my life, but the way I feel right now is unbelievable."

Barnes, 20, of Stockton, Calif., earned an exemption into next year's U.S. Open at Olympia Fields Country Club. Traditionally the U.S. Amateur champion is grouped with the U.S. Open winner for the first two rounds, meaning Barnes will be playing with Tiger Woods.

Both Barnes and Mahan earned invitations to the 2003 Masters as long as they are still amateurs when the tournament is played next April.

Mahan, the 1999 U.S. Junior Amateur champion from McKinney, Texas, said he was not disappointed because of how far he got. He called it the toughest championship to win in golf.

"It's brutal," said Mahan. "It's a grind. You have to play well and you have to get lucky. It's such a long week."

Never down more than one hole in any of the six matches he played, Barnes took a 2-up lead after the first 18 holes of the 36-hole final. He did not make a bogey until the 21st hole and collected seven birdies for the day.

When play resumed, Barnes came out wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt. He had packed it in his bag, telling a friend that he would wear if he made the final.

Mahan struggled with his putter all day and when he missed a four-footer on the 20th hole, he went 3-down.

He was 4-down through 27, but finally began to fight back and recorded an eagle at the 561-yard, par-5 30th to get within two holes.

Barnes halted Mahan's momentum, however, by winning the next hole with a 15-footer for birdie.

"The most comfortable I felt was after the 31st hole," said Barnes. "Hunter made a huge eagle putt on 12 to cut it. He had a big up and down on 11. He had a huge putt on 12 to kind of get some momentum. He had the fist pumps going."