By Ken Klavon, USGA

Village of Pinehurst, N.C. (Aug. 20) – Derek Fathauer stood still as a sentry, seething at the scene before him.

He digested it the way a snake chokes down its prey: slow and deliberate. His opponent, Jhonattan Vegas, had just dropped in a 30-foot bomb on the Pinehurst No. 2 16th green — an upturned special by Donald Ross, no less — to even the match. Vegas shrieked "Come on!" so loud that it could have awakened Rip Van Winkle.

Little did he know it then, but Vegas’ outburst empowered the two-time All-American and recent University of Louisville graduate in the 108^th U.S. Amateur.

"I didn’t like it," said Fathauer, 22, of Jensen Beach, Fla. "That got me going. Got me a little upset."

Turned out for Vegas, it was nothing more than subterfuge.

Or call it karma.

That’s because on the next hole, Fathauer delivered a figurative roundhouse that effectively staggered the hulking Vegas and led to his 1-up victory in the heavyweight match of the first round. The circumstances that led to Fathauer’s win made it sweeter than a gross of Pixy Stix.

With the 24-year-old Venezuelan riding the crest of emotion entering No. 17, Fathauer tried to bury the contempt, but it flared again on the tee. Vegas hit a lazy 7-iron at the front-center flagstick. Applause came from afar. Vegas turned toward his caddie-brother, Julio, and animatedly bumped fists with him as the ball scooted within 14 feet of its destination.

Know this about Fathauer, too. He doesn’t like fist bumps.

"I hate when people fist pump, get all pumped up," said Fathauer. "I just don't think it was called for. It is OK for Tiger [Woods] to do it, but unless you’re Tiger, don't do it…. Maybe if it was the last round or something."

So Fathauer, who comes across as a misplaced 1970s surfer dude with a laid-back personality and shock of strawberry-blond hair thicker than shag carpeting, bore his fangs. He aimed his 7-iron at the hole, which was playing 173 yards Wednesday. The ball trickled on but ran right, leaving him with a thorny downhill 30-footer.

Fathauer sized up the putt, meandered around to get a more reliable read and breathed a drawn-out sigh. When he saw he had the line, there was no doubt in his disposition. The ball dropped out of sight, and Fathauer, in a bit of subtle comeuppance, looked directly at Vegas — not once, but twice — as if to say, "Take that, big buddy!"

"I wanted to make that putt so bad," said Fathauer.

Vegas, wobbled against the ropes, still had a chance to secure a halve. His 14-footer broke left before narrowly curling around. His back-door miss resulted in furrowed eyes and Vegas standing with arms akimbo.

The 18^th hole proved to be anti-climatic. Vegas’ fade off the tee dropped helplessly in the far right rough, leaving him with a difficult par save. He overshot the green from 133 yards out, where his ball found a back collection area. Fathauer would have needed to three-putt from 8 feet, which he didn’t.

On a larger scale, the match more than epitomized the idiosyncrasies of the fairness of the draw. In a perfect bracket, Fathauer and Vegas never would have met so early. That notion, of course, is based on last year’s showing. Fathauer was a quarterfinalist; Vegas lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Colt Knost. It also was evidenced by the nip-and-tuck nature of the match. Neither player held more than a 1-up advantage. With the usual match-play concessions, Fathauer shot the equivalent of two under par. Vegas carded one under.

Vegas knew of Fathauer, but also understood it was the luck of the draw. If he didn’t play him now, then probably down the road, he figured.

"It was a really good match," said Vegas, a recent graduate of the University of Texas. "But he played better than me. I played good golf. I can’t complain."

Vegas accepted his defeat graciously, adding that he will head to the PGA Tour Q-School in the fall, which is what Fathauer will do as well. Vegas’ caddie-brother, Julio, will follow in his footsteps by playing golf at the University of Texas starting this fall. Jhonattan’s committed to getting his kid brother prepared for campus life and golf, to which Julio said, "It’s fun that he tries to teach me; he’s always trying to push me."

For Fathauer, he won’t outwardly admit it, but this is a win-or-bust week. He waited to turn professional because the U.S. Amateur has been on his radar.

"This is my favorite tournament, so I wouldn't pass this up for anything," said Fathauer.

Who knows, if all goes as planned, perhaps we might even see Fathauer elicit a monstrous fist pump — granted, in the last round of match play.

Ken Klavon is the USGA’s Editor of New Media. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.