Story Links
Aug. 27, 2000
Springfield, N.J. — Jeff Quinney, 21, of Eugene, Ore., jumped out to an early lead over James Driscoll, 22, of Brookline, Mass., and holds a 2-up lead after 18 holes of Sunday’s 36-hole final of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.
Play continues at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) with the second 18 holes of the championship match.
Quinney, a senior at Arizona State University, won two of the first five holes in the morning with pars, and followed that with winning birdies on holes eight and nine to stand 3 up.
Driscoll picked up the pace with winning birdies on holes 10 and 13 to cut Quinney’s margin to 1 up before Quinney countered with a winning birdie on the par 5 17th. Through the morning round, Quinney was the equivalent of 2-under 69 while Driscoll was the equivalent of a 1-over 72.
Since the USGA adopted the current match play format in 1973, only five times has the winner come-from-behind after the first 18 holes. Tiger Woods did it three times from 1994-96, coming from five holes down to Steve Scott to win his last title. Nathaniel Crosby (1981) and Jerry Pate (1974) came back from being 1-down to win.
Quinney’s play at the Amateur is capping a successful summer. He won the recent Pacific Northwest Golf Association and Oregon match play titles, and was runner-up at the Pacific Coast Amateur.
For Driscoll, this Amateur is a chance to claim a USGA title after several near misses. He was quarterfinalist at last year’s Amateur, where he lost to eventual champion David Gossett. And in 1995, he was runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur.
The youngest of seven children, Driscoll is a two-time Massachusetts State Amateur champion (1996 and 1998). He also was invited to play in the PGA Tour’s Pleasant Valley Classic in the Boston area in 1998.
A first-time qualifier, Quinney is looking to follow in the footsteps of ASU alumnus Phil Mickelson, who won the Amateur in 1990.
The Amateur winner becomes exempt into the next Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. The two finalists are invited to play in the next Masters.
The Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs. This was the 100th playing of the Amateur, the oldest national championship conducted by the Association.
Springfield, N.J. – Status of Sunday’s championship match after the first 18 holes at the U.S. Amateur Championship, at the 6,887-yard, par 35-36–71 Upper Course at Baltusrol Golf Club.
Jeff Quinney, Eugene, Ore. (144) leads James Driscoll, Brookline, Mass. (140), 2 up.
Provided by USGA