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U.S. Amateur 5AmateurKraft Wins the 2011 ChampionshipKelly Kraft, 22, of Denton, Texas, defeated Patrick Cantlay,19, of Los Alamitos, Calif., 2 up, to win the 2011 U.S. AmateurChampionship at 7,760-yard, par-72 Erin Hills.“It’s awesome. It’s just great,” said Kraft, a three-timeConference USA Player of the Year while at Southern MethodistUniversity. “It’s such an honor to win this championship. I meanthere’s none other better than this one.”In victory, Kraft received exemptions into the 2012 U.S. OpenChampionship and British Open Championship, as well as alikely invitation to the 2012 Masters Tournament. He was alsonamed to the 2011 USA Walker Cup Team, which departed afew days later for Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland.“(USA Team Captain Jim Holtgrieve) walked up to me on thegreen and told me, ‘See ya in Scotland.’ And I was like, ‘Wow.’I didn’t know what to say,” said an obviously elated Kraft, theHavemeyer Trophy sitting at his side. “I just won the tournamentand then they told me this. I about had a heart attack.”Kraft also joined Hank Kuehne (1998) and Colt Knost (2007) asSMU Mustangs to win the Amateur title.It was Cantlay, a UCLA sophomore who held the top spotin the World Amateur Ranking, who drew first blood in thematch, making a birdie on the opening hole. However, Kraftwas not intimidated by his opponent. Three birdies in a nineholestretch gave him a 4-up advantage by the 16th hole.Not to be outdone, Cantlay began to rally when he converteda 60-foot putt for birdie on No. 17. He then won No. 18 with abogey when Kraft hit two bunkers on his approach shots, givingKraft a 2-up lead going into the lunch break.“It’s hard to get up that much on the No. 1 amateur in theworld,” said Kraft. “I was happy being 2 up. Even losing the lasttwo holes the morning round, I was still happy being 2 up. Ifyou would have told me that before we started, I would havetaken it.”“Obviously I had a positive frame of mind going into 17, 18,just based on my play earlier this week,” said Cantlay, who hadmade comebacks on those holes in his earlier matches withRussell Henley and Max Buckley.Cantlay’s momentum continued after the break. He pulledwithin one hole when his approach shot to the par-4 22nd hitthe flagstick and gave him a 6-foot birdie putt. Kraft’s bogeyon the par-3 24th then squared the match.Another Kraft bogey on the par-4 28th hole handed Cantlayhis first lead since the third hole of the morning round. Butback-to-back Cantlay bogeys at Nos. 33 and 34 gave the leadback to Kraft.After a missed par attempt on the 36th green, Cantlay took offhis cap and conceded the victory to Kraft.“I kind of figured if he missed that, then he would concede thehole,” said Kraft. “I’ll take whatever way it comes.”Kraft came into the championship slightly under the radar,despite 2011 victories at the Trans-Mississippi Championshipand Texas State Amateur. Not highly recruited out of highschool, he completed his four years of athletic eligibility at SMUafter the 2010-2011 season. With plans to complete his sociologydegree, Kraft was still entertaining thoughts of enteringPGA Tour Q-School in 2011 until taking the Amateur title.“I’m going to have to see how long I can stay amateur forbecause I don’t get (the championships) if I turn pro,” said Kraftwith a smile. “But I mean that’s just great. I tried not to thinkabout it too much yesterday. You know, I just tried to finishtoday. And now I can think about it all for a while.”On the other hand, Cantlay had one of the more heraldedamateur summers in recent memory. He garnered low-amateurhonors at the U.S. Open and finished in the top-25 at threeother PGA Tour events, carding an amateur-record-low 60at the Travelers Championship. While he was certainly disappointedwith his Amateur outcome, he was able to find a modicumof solace in his week at Erin Hills.“I went 5 and 1 this week,” said Cantlay. “I think that’s not toobad. Going into the Walker Cup, I feel confident about mygame and feel really good about the team we have.”