July 15, 2006

BREMERTON, Wash. - Former Wolf Pack golfer Casey Watabu defeated Anthony Kim of Traverse City, Mich., to win the 81st annual U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship Saturday at the par 72, 7,061-yard Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

Watabu, a native of Kapaa, Hawai'i, turned in a 4 and 3 victory over Kim in the 36-hole match play finals. He never trailed in Saturday's finals, taking a one-hole lead after a birdie on the first hole. Kim, who was an all-region selection and one of the three finalists for the Ben Hogan Award this year as a junior at the University of Oklahoma, squared the match up at the third hole. Watabu then turned in a par on No. 5 to regain a one-hole lead and went 5-up at the end of the first round.

In the second round, Watabu birdied his first three holes and led by as many as seven holes before turning in a par on the 15th hole to end the match with the 4 and 3 victory.

With the win, Watabu earned a gold medal and custody of the James D. Standish Jr. Cup for one year. He also receives a 10-year exemption from sectional qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, an exemption from local qualifying for the next three U.S. Open Championships, exemptions from sectional qualifying for the 2006 U.S. Amateur and the 2006 U.S. Mid-Amateur, if otherwise eligible, and an invitation to compete in the next Masters Tournament, if still an amateur. A total of 4,739 contestants entered this year's event.

Watabu, who is the first player in school history to win the U.S. Public Links Championship, just completed his senior year at Nevada, helping lead the Wolf Pack to its first NCAA Championships appearance in 16 years. He tied for first at the NCAA West Regional and earned second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors this season.