August 20, 1999

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

David Hearn' miraculous run at the United States Amateur Golf Championship ended on Thursday, but not after the University of Wyoming junior advanced to the Final 16 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. Hearn began as one of the best 312 amateur golfers on Monday, and ended in the Top 16.

After becoming one of only 64 golfers who advanced to match play on Wednesday, Hearn, the 63rd seed out of the 64 golfers defeated No. 2 seed Matthew Jones of Tempe, Ariz., and Arizona State University. Hearn had to go an extra hole, but came away with the victory in 19 holes over Jones.

On Thursday morning, Hearn, went on to defeat Scott Weatherly of Fort Payne, Ala., in a dominant fashion with a 7 and 6 victory, meaning Hearn had won seven more holes than Weatherly with only six holes remaining to play. It looked as if Hearn would advance on to the Final 8 when he held a two-hole lead after 10 holes in his Thursday afternoon matchup with Sung Yoon Kim of Seoul, South Korea, but Kim came back on the back nine to defeat Hearn 2 and 1.

"David showed that he belongs among the elite amateur golfers in the country with his performance this week," said University of Wyoming men's golf coach Roger Prenzlow. "I can't say enough about David's competitive nature and his strong will to become the best player he can be. He has worked very hard at this game to reach this level of performance, and I believe this will give him the confidence to climb to the top of college golf over the next couple of years."