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U.S. Amateur Public Links 5Mills Wins the 2011 ChampionshipCorbin Mills parred the first extra playoff hole to defeatFirst, he drove the green on the downwind 343-yard, par-4Nick Taylor, who was trying to become the first stroke-play medalist to claimDerek the title Ernst since in 2000, 37 holes fell just to short, win the losing 2011 to U.S. Brad Amateur Benjamin Public in the final.Links Championship contested at 7,016-yard, par-71 OldMacdonald at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.Mills, 21, of Easley, S.C., became the first qualifying medalistto win the APL since fellow Clemson Tiger D.J. Trahan claimedthe title in 2000, also in 37 holes at Heron Lakes in Portland,Ore., five hours north of Bandon Dunes. Interestingly, themedalist has gone on to win the championship four out of fivetimes the APL has been held in Oregon.Despite winds that gusted up to 25 miles per hour, Saturday’s36-hole finale featured an abundance of birdies by both players– and very few halved holes. Mills and Ernst combined towin 27 of the 37 holes contested.Trailing for most of the day, Ernst drained a 7-foot par putt tohalve the 36th hole and force extra holes.Playing the par-4 first hole for the third time in Saturday’s36-hole finale, both competitors hit the fairway with theirdrives and knocked their approach shots on the front of thegreen, which featured a back-right hole location.First to putt, Ernst raced his 50-foot birdie attempt 10 feet pastthe hole. After Mills lagged his 30-footer within 4 feet, Ernstput what he thought was a good stroke on his par effort onlyto see it catch the left lip and spin out.“I thought I made it,” said Ernst. “I hit it right where I wantedto and it just didn’t drop.”Mills then stepped up and calmly holed his remaining 4-footerto claim the gold medal and possession of the James D.Standish Trophy.“I had a really good game plan the entire week,” said Mills.“I stuck to it every day, every round, every match, and it keptworking out for me.”Mills birdied the 18th hole of the morning session to take a2-up lead into lunch.He built his lead to 4 up and was seemingly in control of thematch midway through the afternoon round, when Ernstreeled off wins at five consecutive holes to take a 1-up leadwith five to play.“I kept telling myself that I was still in it,” said Ernst, who didnot lead until the 31st hole of the match. “I was down, but I stillbelieved I could pull it off.”ninth, the players’ 27th hole, and two-putted for birdie. AfterErnst won the 10th and 11th with pars when Mills found troubleoff the tee, Ernst nearly aced the 237-yard, par-3 12th, hittinga 5-iron within 6 inches of the hole for a conceded birdie to tiethe match. It would have been his second hole-in-one of theweek, as he aced the par-4 eighth hole at Bandon Trails in hisfirst-round match on Wednesday.On the following hole, with Mills in good position off the tee,Ernst stuck a wedge to 2 feet for a tap-in birdie for his first leadof the day.Mills proved resilient, however, getting up-and-down fromthe fescue on the par-5 15th to square the match. He punctuatedhis 15-foot birdie putt with a fist pump. He credited histurnaround with a change in tempo.“It took me until like 14 to realize, okay, I’ve got to slow thisdown,” said Mills. “This whole week my deal had been [to playquickly]. But I slowed down, regrouped and I made a 4 footerfor par on 14 to halve the hole. Then the big win on 15 reallygot the momentum going.”Ernst won the 16th with par, but found three separate bunkerson the par-5 17th and eventually conceded the hole to Mills,who had hit the green in two, to square the match again.Mills overcame Ernst and five other match-play competitorsto win the title, but he also had to contend with several healthissues – though outsiders might not have known it from hisexceptional play throughout the week.First, Mills developed an ear infection two days before leavingfor Bandon Dunes. Then, he missed his scheduled flight fromSouth Carolina to Oregon. He was able to catch a flight thefollowing day, but developed pink eye, for which he was stilltaking antibiotics.“I haven’t been able to hear out of my left ear the wholeweek,” said Mills. “I don’t know if all this had me in some sortof zone, but whatever it was, [it worked].”Though his parents and many friends from his native SouthCarolina could not attend Saturday’s 36-hole final, Millsreceived an outpouring of support from his fan club.“The past two or three days I’ve had so much support fromback home. All of my friends, all of my family, they’re just sosupportive. I’ve got a million texts and missed calls, everythingright now.”APLAfter making a slight alignment adjustment by opening hisshoulders a bit, Ernst went on a furious charge.