Canadian Lepp advances at U.S. Amateur

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Posted 9:19PM on Wednesday, August 24, 2005

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) Canadian James Lepp birdied the first playoff hole Wednesday to beat 64th-seeded Kyle Reifers and advance to the second round of the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club. Lepp, the 2005 NCAA individual champion out of Washington who was the stroke play medalist, rallied from two holes down and forced the playoff by winning the 18th. On the first playoff hole, he hit his approach from 94 yards to within 2 feet and made the birdie putt for the win. ``When I hit the wedge in, I thought, 'Oh, it looks good,''' Lepp said. ``It felt good. It just spun down the hill perfectly. I didn't feel real great with the putter today, so it was nice to have that close right-edge putt. ``I felt like I had the momentum and I was going to win this match.'' In a matchup of players from Georgia, Brian Harman of Savannah beat Ben Kishigian of Warner Robins in a match that went 22 holes. Lepp will face 32nd-seeded Dane Burkhart, a junior from South Carolina-Aiken, in Thursday's second round. Burkhart advanced with a 1-up win over John Holmes. George Zahringer, 52, also won his first-round match on a playoff hole. He rolled in a 12-foot putt to beat Chandler Cocco, a 20-year-old junior from St. Mary's College in California. ``This was clearly a match that could have gone either way,'' said Zahringer, the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who trailed by three holes after the 11th. ``I probably should have lost it. I made some mistakes, some rookie mistakes, but this is a such a great match play course, particularly with those last six holes, that anything can happen. ``I am definitely representing the old guys here. I do have a day job, but when we get on the first tee, I don't really feel old. Sometimes I feel that I've got to adjust a little to how long these younger guys play, and I'll do a better job of that tomorrow.'' Zahringer will face 16-year-old Oliver Fisher, who was a member of the Britain and Ireland's Walker Cup team. Fisher beat U.S. Walker Cup team member Lee Williams 5 and 4. Gary Wolstenholme, 45, defeated 21-year-old Missouri junior Shawn Jasper. Wolstenholme had a hole-in-one at the 120-yard 13th and went 1-up with a birdie on the 17th before halving the final hole. ``Fortunately, maybe my experiences just paid in the end,'' said Wolstenholme, who beat Tiger Woods in the 1995 Walker Cup. ``My enthusiasm for the game is as strong as it ever was. I've got to hit the ball better, not harder and let these kids hit it sort of 50, 60 yards further than me.'' In other matches, sixth-seeded Austin Eaton III, the 2004 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, beat Spain's Pablo Martin 2 and 1, and fourth seeded Charlie Beljan, a junior at New Mexico who led stroke play after a first-round 6-under 64, was eliminated by Bill Hurley, the 61st-seeded player, 5 and 4. ``It's been a great time,'' Beljan said. ``There's been ups and downs obviously, 64 and then 76. I played well today, but the putter just let me down.'' (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)