ChAmpionShipS mediA GUide - USGA

Kelly Kraft, 22, of Denton, Texas, defeated Patrick Cantlay,
19, of Los Alamitos, Calif., 2 up, to win the 2011 U.S. Amateur
Championship at 7,760-yard, par-72 Erin Hills.
“It’s awesome. It’s just great,” said Kraft, a three-time
Conference USA Player of the Year while at Southern Methodist
University. “It’s such an honor to win this championship. I mean
there’s none other better than this one.”
In victory, Kraft received exemptions into the 2012 U.S. Open
Championship and British Open Championship, as well as a
likely invitation to the 2012 Masters Tournament. He was also
named to the 2011 USA Walker Cup Team, which departed a
few days later for Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland.
“(USA Team Captain Jim Holtgrieve) walked up to me on the
green and told me, ‘See ya in Scotland.’ And I was like, ‘Wow.’
I didn’t know what to say,” said an obviously elated Kraft, the
Havemeyer Trophy sitting at his side. “I just won the tournament
and then they told me this. I about had a heart attack.”
Kraft also joined Hank Kuehne (1998) and Colt Knost (2007) as
SMU Mustangs to win the Amateur title.
It was Cantlay, a UCLA sophomore who held the top spot
in the World Amateur Ranking, who drew first blood in the
match, making a birdie on the opening hole. However, Kraft
was not intimidated by his opponent. Three birdies in a ninehole
stretch gave him a 4-up advantage by the 16th hole.
Not to be outdone, Cantlay began to rally when he converted
a 60-foot putt for birdie on No. 17. He then won No. 18 with a
bogey when Kraft hit two bunkers on his approach shots, giving
Kraft a 2-up lead going into the lunch break.
“It’s hard to get up that much on the No. 1 amateur in the
world,” said Kraft. “I was happy being 2 up. Even losing the last
two holes the morning round, I was still happy being 2 up. If
you would have told me that before we started, I would have
taken it.”
“Obviously I had a positive frame of mind going into 17, 18,
just based on my play earlier this week,” said Cantlay, who had
made comebacks on those holes in his earlier matches with
Russell Henley and Max Buckley.
Kraft Wins the 2011 Championship
U.S. Amateur 5
Cantlay’s momentum continued after the break. He pulled
within one hole when his approach shot to the par-4 22nd hit
the flagstick and gave him a 6-foot birdie putt. Kraft’s bogey
on the par-3 24th then squared the match.
Another Kraft bogey on the par-4 28th hole handed Cantlay
his first lead since the third hole of the morning round. But
back-to-back Cantlay bogeys at Nos. 33 and 34 gave the lead
back to Kraft.
After a missed par attempt on the 36th green, Cantlay took off
his cap and conceded the victory to Kraft.
“I kind of figured if he missed that, then he would concede the
hole,” said Kraft. “I’ll take whatever way it comes.”
Kraft came into the championship slightly under the radar,
despite 2011 victories at the Trans-Mississippi Championship
and Texas State Amateur. Not highly recruited out of high
school, he completed his four years of athletic eligibility at SMU
after the 2010-2011 season. With plans to complete his sociology
degree, Kraft was still entertaining thoughts of entering
PGA Tour Q-School in 2011 until taking the Amateur title.
“I’m going to have to see how long I can stay amateur for
because I don’t get (the championships) if I turn pro,” said Kraft
with a smile. “But I mean that’s just great. I tried not to think
about it too much yesterday. You know, I just tried to finish
today. And now I can think about it all for a while.”
On the other hand, Cantlay had one of the more heralded
amateur summers in recent memory. He garnered low-amateur
honors at the U.S. Open and finished in the top-25 at three
other PGA Tour events, carding an amateur-record-low 60
at the Travelers Championship. While he was certainly disappointed
with his Amateur outcome, he was able to find a modicum
of solace in his week at Erin Hills.
“I went 5 and 1 this week,” said Cantlay. “I think that’s not too
bad. Going into the Walker Cup, I feel confident about my
game and feel really good about the team we have.”
Amateur