John Harris, of Edina, Minn., birdied three of four holes midway through the second 18 of a 36-hole final and went on to defeat Danny Ellis, of Haines City, Fla., 5 and 3, over the Cypress Creek Course at Champions Golf Club, in Houston, Texas.

The win continued an exceptional streak of fine play for Harris, a 41-year-old reinstated amateur. The week before the Amateur he won three matches at the Walker Cup, including the one that clinched the victory for the United States.

With the match all square, Harris went ahead for good at the eighth hole of the afternoon round at the Amateur by making a 6-foot birdie putt. He then reached the green of the par-5 ninth hole in two and two-putted from 85 feet for another birdie and a 2-up lead.

Both players parred the 10th before Harris rolled in a 24-foot birdie putt at he par-4 11th to go 3-up. After the players traded the next two holes, Ellis bogeyed and lost Nos. 14 and 15, three-putting each, to end the match.

The final had been scheduled for Sunday but was pushed back one day because of severe thunderstorms earlier in the week.

Brian Gay, of Daleville, Ala., won medalist honors with a 4-under-par 139, one stroke ahead of Walker Cup teammate and defending champion Justin Leonard, of Dallas, Texas. Each won three matches before losing to a finalist; Ellis defeated Gay, 3 and 2, and Harris rallied down the stretch to eliminate Leonard, 2 and 1.

The two rounds of stroke play to qualify for match play were highlighted by three shots; holes-in-one by Leonard and Rick Ten Broeck, and a double-eagle by Carson Mooney, of Boise, Idaho, who holed a 3-wood on the par-5 ninth hole at the Cypress Creek Course.