Justin Leonard

Justin Leonard, 20, of Austin, Texas, won four straight holes midway through the scheduled 36-hole final and went on to defeat Thomas Scherrer, 22, of Skaneateles, N.Y. 8 and 7, at the 92nd U.S. Amateur at Muirfield Village Golf Club, in Dublin, Ohio. The final was played on Monday, one day later than scheduled, because of heavy rainfall earlier in the week.

Leonard led through 16 holes, 3 up, and then made 14-and 11-foot birdie putts at the 17th and 18th holes, respectively, to hold a commanding 5-up advantage at the end of the morning 18. He then won the first two holes of the afternoon round with birdies to lead, 7 up. Although Scherrer managed to twice narrow the deficit, Leonard took the 27th and 28th holes to go ahead, 8 up, the largest lead in the match. The final ended on the next hole when both players made par fives.

Leonard advanced to the final by eliminating Allen Doyle, of LaGrange, Ga., in the semifinals, 2 and 1, while Scherrer defeated Kelly Mitchum, of Southern Pines, N.C.

The quarterfinals produced two marvelous comebacks. Leonard was 4-down to David White, of Little Rock, Ark., after nine holes, but Leonard recorded five birdies over the next eight holes and won the match, 2 and 1. After taking the 10th hole with a par, Leonard birdied the next four holes, winning three and halving the fourth , to bring the match back to all square. He went ahead with a par three at the 16th hole, then closed out the match with another birdie at the par-4 17th.

An even better comeback was registered by Mitchum, who trailed Mike Stone, 4-down, with only five holes remaining. Mitchum took the 14th with a par, the 15th with a birdie, and the 17th with a par four to get within 1-down. He also took the 18th with a par, then won on the first extra hole, again with a par. Although Stone halved the par-3 16th with a birdie, he helped pave the away for Mitchum's rally by carding four bogeys and a triple bogey over the final six holes.

David Duval, of Ponte Verde Beach, was the medalist with a 36-hole total of 136, eight under par. Duval, however, lost in the first round of match play to Tom McKnight, of Galax, Va.