Knost Holds 1-Up Lead After 18 Holes Of Final

San Francisco – Colt Knost of Dallas birdied the 18^th hole of the morning round of the 2007 U.S. Amateur final to take a 1-up lead over Michael Thompson of Tucson, Ariz., at The Olympic Club’s par-70, 6,948-yard Lake Course.

Michael Thompson fires at the flagstick on the fifth hole during Sunday's first 18 holes. (John Mummert/USGA)

On the par-4, 347-yard 18^th, Knost hit his approach shot to 6 feet. Thompson’s approach found the thick rough right of the green. His third shot went forward into more substantial rough, at which point he conceded Knost’s birdie putt.

The 22-year-old Thompson took an early lead with a birdie at the par-5 first hole. Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, hit his second shot to the rough short of the green and hit his third into the rough behind the green.

Knost, who is trying to become the sixth golfer in history to win two USGA championships in the same season, got it back with a par on the second hole when Thompson hit his tee shot into the rough and was unable to convert his par putt from 8 feet.

After Knost built a 2-up lead with pars at the third and fifth holes, Thompson got one back on the No. 7 when Knost was unable to get up and down from the rough above the green, and squared the match with a par on the ninth.

On the 10^th hole, Thompson hit his tee shot into the rough and had to pitch out to the middle of the fairway. He was unable to convert his par putt from 25 feet, giving Knost a 1-up advantage. But Thompson would again square the match two holes later when he made a 15-footer for birdie.

"I started off poor, but I got into a groove there after a while," said Thompson. "I just have to trust myself more. I just have to keep shooting for the middle of the green and make a few putts."

The two remained all square until the par-5, 607-yard 16^th, when Thompson made a 20-foot birdie putt to grab a 1-up lead. But Knost countered on the 17^th when Thompson hit his approach shot into a greenside bunker front of the green and couldn’t get up and down, and took a 1-up lead into the break after Thompson’s bogey on 18.

Both players struggled a bit through the morning round. Thompson missed 10 of 18 greens in regulation and Knost missed eight. Counting the usual match-play concessions, Thompson had 30 putts and Knost had 31.

"I still haven’t gotten the putter warmed up," said Knost. "I didn’t make a birdie until the last hole. I didn’t hit it very good, especially in that stretch of (holes) 7-9. But I feel like he made a few putts on me or I’d have a bigger lead."

The second round begins at 11:45 a.m. PDT.

The Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs. The USGA is the national governing body of golf in this country and Mexico, a combined territory that includes more than half the game’s golfers and golf courses.

Story written by Beth Murrison of USGA Media Relations. Contact her at bmurrison@usga.org with questions or comments.