Dayton-area teen makes history at Ohio Amateur

Associated Press

WILLOUGHBY

Michael Bernard never wavered Wednesday to win the Ohio Amateur golf championship by five strokes, becoming the youngest winner in the tournament’s 104 years.

Bernard, a 16-year-old high school junior-to-be from Huber Heights, shot a 71 to finish at 7-under 277, coolly rolling in an 18-foot par putt on the final hole to seal the deal. The youngest previous winner was legendary amateur Frank Stranahan, who won the first of his back-to-back titles in 1941 at the age of 18.

The Wayne High School student began the day with a two-shot edge on Bill Williamson. He led throughout the final round, hitting clutch par putts on the first six holes and pulling away with three birdies on the back nine.

Williamson(73) shared second with Matt Stauch (66) and Tom Ballinger (73) at 282.

U.S. Amateur Public Links

GREENSBORO, N.C.

Lion Kim birdied his final two holes to beat Kevin Phelan in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links, and will face David McDaniel for the championship at Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center.

The 21-year-old senior-to-be from the University of Michigan beat Phelan, who plays for North Florida, 1 up after making two long putts on the final two holes. McDaniel also won 1 up over Pepperdine’s Josh Anderson to set up Saturday’s final.

Kim trailed Phelan by two holes through No. 12 before finally getting hot. He pulled ahead by winning three of the next four, and although Phelan hit tight approach shots at Nos. 17 and 18, Kim rolled in putts from 20- and 10- feet to keep the lead and win the match.

The 25-year-old McDaniel, from Tucson, Ariz., took the lead in his match by winning Nos. 13 and 14, then finished off Anderson with a par as light ran fell.