Monday, August 26, 2002
21-year-old from California wins U.S. Amateur
By Vartan Kupelian
The Detroit News
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Long and straight is a good combination in golf, and in the end that's what long and strong Ricky Barnes brought to the U.S. Amateur final.
A big short game, too.
Barnes, a 21-year-old from Stockton, Calif., played almost flawless golf Sunday to defeat Hunter Mahan, 2 and 1, in the 36-hole championship match at Oakland Hills Country Club.
“I'm on top of the world,” Barnes said. “I've won a couple of tournaments in my life, but the way I feel right now is unbelievable. My emotions are so high I can't even explain them.”
Barnes made only two bogeys in 35 holes, claimed a 2-up lead after 18 holes and closed the match with a par save from deep grass behind the 17th green. It was a fitting conclusion for a big man who exhibited marvelous touch throughout the championship.
The almost perfect nature of his golf startled Barnes, who, at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, isn't easily startled.
“If you would have told me that at the start of the day, I would have said you're crazy,” he said. “I couldn't ask to play better.”
The victim of Barnes exceptional play was Mahan, 20, the 1999 U.S. Junior Amateur champion from McKinney, Texas.
“I knew Ricky was long,” Mahan said. “That was not a shock to me at all. I was surprised how straight he hit it. Just everything was right down the middle and always in the fairway.”
Barnes credited his short game with unnerving Mahan, too.
“Those up-and-downs might have surprised him a little,” Barnes said. “Because some of them surprised me. My short game definitely won this tournament for me.”
Mahan was 1-up through 12 holes but Barnes drew even with a conceded birdie on the 16th, where Mahan hit two balls into the pond guarding the green. The match turned decidedly in Barnes favor on the next two holes when he made a birdie putt on the 17th and Mahan missed his chance.
At the 18th, both were on the wrong side of the green, left of the ridge with the pin on the right. Mahan, putting second, played too much break and three-putted. Barne's two-putt par won the hole and put him 2-up at the lunch break.
They traded birdies on the 20th and 21st holes, with Barnes going 3-up at the second and back to 2-up at the third. Barnes won the 26th hole with a par 4. Mahan was beginning to run out of holes and got one back with a par save out of a green-side bunker at the 28th hole, the 10th on the South Course. His par save out of a bunker on the next hole was huge and enabled him to halve the hole. He made a 12-foot putt there after Barnes had rolled his first putt, from off the back of the green, to “gimme” range.
At the 12th, Mahan hit a 254-yard 2-iron to within 60 feet and made the putt for an eagle 3 to get back to 2-down. It did not faze Barnes. On the 168-yard, par-3 13th, both hit excellent shots. Mahan, putting first, missed. Barnes made to restore a 3-up lead with five holes left. Barnes walked off the 13th green feeling mighty good about his chances.
“Hunter made a big up-and-down at the 11th, made a huge putt at the 12th and had the momentum swinging,” Barnes said. “He had the fist pump going. The birdie at the 13th put a lot of confidence back in my game.”
The match ended at the 17th hole, where Barnes, from deep grass in the back fringe, hit a terrific chip to within inches. Mahan, with 10 feet left for par, offered his hand in congratulations.
“Ricky made it tough because he hit so many great shots and never really put himself in trouble,” Mahan said. “He played great. I think he would have beaten anybody today.”
Complicating things for Mahan was a balky putter, the same putter that had been so accurate in earlier matches. Missed putts early in the afternoon 18 opened the door for Barnes, and he slammed it shut.
“After that I was like, 'I'm going to need some help here because I'm just not playing solid,' ” Mahan said. “And he just never gave it to me.”
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21-year-old from California wins U.S. Amateur
