Happiest of Hours for a Sober Kuehne

ROCHESTER, N.Y. —  Winning the U.S. Amateur golf championship means less to Hank Kuehne than staying sober.

“This is the second greatest victory in my life--sobriety is definitely No. 1,” the 22-year-old Texan said Sunday after overcoming the efforts of former pro Tom McKnight of Galax, Va., by 2 and 1 in a dramatic match-play duel.

McKnight, 44, who runs a chain of convenience stores and gasoline stations in rural southwestern Virginia, stemmed an early runaway in the 36-hole final but his heroics around the green disappeared down the stretch at Oak Hill.

“I really can’t put it into words for anybody--it’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Kuehne, a recovering alcoholic from McKinney, Texas, who is entering his senior year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

The Kuehnes have been the most notable family in amateur golf of late. Kuehne’s elder brother and caddy, Trip, lost to Tiger Woods in the 1994 amateur final; his sister, Kelli, won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1995 and 1996 before turning pro.

McKnight joined the pro circuit out of college in 1976 but never qualified for the PGA Tour and quit trying when he dislocated his elbow playing basketball in 1980. He regained his amateur status in 1984.

Kuehne was 3-up after the morning round and might have been further ahead but for some drama around the greens.

McKnight grabbed the lead on the second hole when he made a 35-foot birdie putt and Kuehne missed from three feet. McKnight bogeyed the next two holes to fall 1-down, drew level with a par on the fifth, then drove into a creek on the seventh and into the trees on the eighth to drop 2-down.

Kuehne bolted further ahead on No. 10 with a 15-foot birdie putt. Although McKnight clawed back on the par-three 11th by chipping in from a front bunker, Kuehne soared to 4-up with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16.

McKnight holed a crucial 20-foot par putt to tie the 17th and closed the gap on the 18th when Kuehne’s drive was hemmed in by trees.

Momentum changed in the early afternoon. McKnight sank an eight-foot birdie putt on the second hole, then drew level when Kuehne got jammed in a fairway bunker on the fourth and drove into a fifth-hole creek.

But after recovering the lead on the sixth, where he sank an 11-foot birdie putt, McKnight missed putts from about five feet on both the eighth and 10th, and from two feet on the 11th and seven feet on the 12th to again fall 3-down.