TULSA — With each passing day, Byeong-Hun An is making his resume look more impressive.
After playing 125 holes of golf in the past six days at Southern Hills Country Club, the 17-year-old South Korean needs only one more victory to add a line as the youngest champion in the history of the U.S. Amateur.
"Age doesn't matter," An said Saturday after beating Fresno State sophomore Bhavik Patel 3 and 2 in the semifinals. "If you look at the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods is around his 30s. Rory McIlroy is like 20 or 21. Kenny Perry is around his 40s, I think. I don't think it matters."
An, the son of Olympic medal winners in table tennis, said the only difference is that young players can make a splash with big victories and make people think, "He has a title, he's a good player, he's so young."
Danny Lee was 18 years, one month when he won last year's U.S. Amateur to break Tiger Woods' record as the youngest champion by just under seven months. An, who will turn 18 on Sept. 17, could break Lee's mark by a month and a half.
"It's a big title for me," An said. "People will remember - until someone breaks it next."
While he hasn't yet become the event's 109th winner, he likely has already earned something special: U.S. Amateur finalists have traditionally earned invitations to play in the Masters the following year.
An has surprised even himself with the roll he's on this week. In his second time qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, he made the matchplay portion for the first time and has reeled off five consecutive victories to reach today's 36-hole final against fourth-seeded Ben Martin of Clemson.
An said he has won only one tournament since he started playing at 6 - the Nike Golf Junior at Marshallia Ranch in California back in 2006.
"I've got a lot of second-place and third-place trophies, but I don't have a lot of first-place trophies," said An, a senior at Bradenton (Fla.) Preparatory Academy who has orally committed toplay at California next year.
But after closing out his round Saturday by winning the last four holes, he had some business to tend to before his tee time the next morning.
"I only brought like five [sets of] clothes. Now I have to go buy one for tomorrow," An said.
Martin was in control from the start of the other semifinal. Texas senior Charlie Holland bogeyed four of the first six holes as Martin claimed a 4-up lead on his way to a 5-and-4 victory. Holland was all but sunk when he missed a 3-footer to halve the ninth hole and instead fell 5-down.
"I try to just play my game," said Martin, who had two birdies and two bogeys. "Pars are great out here. But if they're in a little bit of trouble, you definitely play a little more conservative. ... [I'm] trying to think of any holes out there where I did that today. I can't think of one."
Sports, Pages 25 on 08/30/2009