Win over top seed assures quarterfinal spot
Updated: July 15, 2004, 10:31 PM ET
Associated Press
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. -- Will Claxton beat top-seeded Danny Green in a record 26-hole match Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links.
Claxton, of Swainsboro, Ga., a rising senior at Auburn, was 4 down through 12 holes. He tied the 47-year-old Green, of Jackson, Tenn., with a birdie on No. 17 and a chip-in for eagle on 18 at the Rush Creek Golf Club course.
Claxton kept the match going with a 15-foot par putt on the 25th hole and then won it on the par-5 eighth with an 8-foot downhill putt for a birdie.
"I haven't played match play until this week," Claxton said. "I talked to my roommate Lee Williams, who was on the USA Walker Cup team, about it and that helped."
The previous longest match in Public Links history was a 25-hole match in 1963, when Clyde E. Sniffen defeated Hung Soo Ahn.
Green, the oldest remaining player in the field, had set USGA and Public Links records with a 13-under 131 in stroke play. He was the runner-up in the 2001 Public Links.
"I let it get away at 13 and 14 to let him get back in the match," Green said. "It's my own fault."
Claxton was pushed to 18 holes earlier Thursday in his second-round match, beating Daryl Fathauer, of Stuart, Fla., 1 up.
Ryan Moore, of Puyallup, Wash., the 2002 U.S. Public Links champion, cruised into the quarterfinals. The No. 2 seed beat Christopher Davidson, of Woodstock, Md., 5 and 4 in the second round, and Jon Veneziano of Mount Dora, Fla., 5 and 4 in the third.
Dayton Rose, of Midwest City, Okla., the 2003 public links runner-up, also reached the quarterfinals. The Oklahoma State University golfer rallied from 3 down through eight holes to beat Brian Atkinson, of Palatine, Ill. in 19 holes. He later beat Brendan Steele, of Idyllwild, Calif., 1 up.
The quarterfinals and semifinals are Friday with the 36-hole final on Saturday. The winner earns a berth in the 2005 Masters.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
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