Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 28, 1995 TAG: 9508280161
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT, R.I. LENGTH: Medium
Tiger Woods had trouble controlling his short irons in his first Masters. On Sunday, he executed the problem shot to perfection to win his second U.S. Amateur and another trip to Augusta.
``I spent hours and hours on the range and it paid off on the 18th hole,'' said Woods, who hit an 8-iron approach on the final hole within 16 inches to all but end his 36-hole match with George ``Buddy'' Marucci. ``It's nice to see that hard work pays off.''
One-up heading to the final hole at Newport Country Club, Woods lofted his second shot from 140 yards in the the middle of the fairway and watched it spin back to the pin. He pumped his fist as he walked up to the green.
``I hit it straight and let the wind just ride it,'' said Woods, a 19-year-old sophomore at Stanford.
The match ended when Marucci, a 43-year-old auto dealer from Berwyn, Pa., missed a 20-foot birdie putt and conceded Woods' putt.
``I'd be pretty arrogant if I said I wasn't thrilled [with making the final],'' Marucci said. ``I don't think it'll ever be the one that got away. ... I can live with losing to Tiger.''
Woods, 19, of Cypress, Calif., is 36-3 in U.S. Golf Association matches, winning the U.S. Junior in 1991, '92 and '93 before becoming the first black winner and youngest U.S. Amateur champion last year.
While the victory was not as dramatic as his 1994 comeback from 6-down in Ponte Vedra, Fla., Woods struggled to shake Marucci, who stayed close with smart, conservative play and a strong short game.
Woods said older amateurs like Marucci and Maine's Mark Plummer, who Woods beat in Saturday's semifinals, are tough opponents even if they can't match his distance game.
``They may have hit the ball all over but they got up and down and they made all the putts they looked at,'' Woods said.
On Sunday, Woods did not take the lead for good until the 30th hole and trailed Marucci, a four-time Pennsylvania amateur champion, for 15 of the first 27 holes.
The tide turned on the 30th hole, played on the par-4 12th, when Woods hit the green in two and parred the hole.
Marucci missed a 13-foot par putt to halve the hole, giving Woods a lead he never surrendered.After both men parred the 31st and 32nd holes, Woods reached the green on the par-4 33rd hole in two shots, then made a 9-foot birdie putt to go 2-up when Marucci missed a 12-footer for birdie.
``It's just a big putt,'' Woods said. ``I needed a cushion. You don't want to be going 1-up into the last three holes.''
The players halved the 34th hole, and Marucci staved off elimination by parring the par-4 35th hole. Woods' tee shot landed in the rough and his second shot put him in a bunker way off the green.
Marucci, meanwhile, stayed out of trouble by hitting his second shot 12 feet from the pin.
Woods reached the green on his third shot, but missed a long putt and conceded the hole to Marucci, who left his birdie putt less than a foot from the cup. Woods has been a golf prodigy since his father, Earl, introduced him to the game at the age of 6 months. Woods' U.S. Amateur titles have earned him invitations to the Masters and the U.S., British and Scottish opens.
Marucci also earned an invitation to the Masters by making the final and learned Sunday he had been selected to the U.S. Walker Cup team for the Sept.9-10 match against Britain and Ireland. Woods also is on the 10-man team.Marucci, who played golf at the University of Maryland but chose to go into commercial real estate instead of turning pro, shot an even-par 70 and was 3-up during the morning round as Woods struggled with his chipping and putting. Woods shot 71 in the morning round.
After a midday break, Woods took the lead for the first time since the opening holes with a birdie putt on the 24th hole. Marucci evened it with a 70-foot birdie pitch on the 26th hole, and stayed even until the 30th hole.
The 36-hole final climaxed a grueling tournament in which Woods and Marucci played nine rounds over six days, including six rounds in the last three. A field of 312 began play, with two days of stroke play paring the field to 64 for the start of match play Thursday.
by CNB