Knost rules U.S. Amateur; Ochoa wins 3rd straight
Colt Knost won the 107th U.S. Amateur Championship on Sunday at Daly City, Calif., holding off Michael Thompson 2 and 1 to win both of the nation's biggest amateur golf events within two months.
Knost, who played at Southern Methodist, is only the second golfer to win both the Amateur and the U.S. Public Links titles in the same year. Ryan Moore did it in 2004.
After a tumultuous 36-hole final match in which both players held a late lead, Knost put a tricky 45-foot chip within 3 feet on The Olympic Club's 17th hole. Thompson conceded a short par putt moments later, and Knost thrust both arms in the air before hugging Thompson, who might be his teammate next month on the American entry in the Walker Cup.
Knost, who won the Publinx championship in June, took the lead for good with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 13th. He then holed a tough chip shot on the 14th, pumping his fist as it rattled home from the back of the fringe to put him 2 up on the historic course on the rolling hills south of San Francisco.
Knost and Thompson both earned spots in the 2008 fields at the Masters and the U.S. Open with their semifinal victories. Knost still hasn't decided whether he'll wait to use those amateur berths instead of turning pro, which he originally planned to do after the Walker Cup in Northern Ireland.
Safeway Classic: Lorena Ochoa won her third straight LPGA title with a 5-stroke victory in the Safeway Classic at Portland, Ore.
Ochoa shot a 71 in the final round for a 12-under 204 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club for her sixth victory of the season.
In-Bee Park (64), Christina Kim (69), Sophie Gustafson (75) and Mhairi McKay (72) all finished at 7-under 209.
Boeing Classic: Denis Watson eagled the second hole of a seven-man playoff Sunday to win the Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie, Wash.
Playing No. 18 for the third time in an hour, Watson hit a 3-wood to about 18 feet, then made a 22-foot putt, giving an emphatic fist pump as the ball dropped to end the largest playoff in Champions Tour history.
Craig Stadler missed a long eagle putt from the front of the green, and R.W. Eaks missed his 12-footer for eagle.