Annie Thurman

Annie Thurman, 19, of Highland, Utah, defeated Hwanhee Lee, 19, of Cerritos, Calif., 6 and 5, to win the 2002 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at the 6,189 yard, par-71 Meadows Course of the Sunriver Resort.

With consistent tee shots and a deft touch around the greens, Thurman took an early lead over a tiring Lee and was never headed in the first scheduled 36-hole match in the championship's history.

"It hasn't hit me yet," said Thurman after her victory. "I'm tired but the thought of it is awesome. You watch so many United States Golf Association championships or read about them, but going from event to event, you want that trophy in the end."

Thurman, the first woman from Utah to win a USGA championship, took a 5-up lead after the morning 18-hole round. As the players approached the 24th tee, her lead had shrunk to four holes.

Lee, meanwhile, drove safely into the fairway and hit her approach on the 366-yard par-4 to within 35 feet of the hole. Thurman's second shot from thick rough barely made it to the fairway, but she then hit her approach shot to within eight feet of the flagstick. If Lee could birdie or par the hole, and Thurman missed her par putt, the lead would shrink to a manageable margin with 12 holes remaining.

"If I made the putt, I would be three down," said Lee. "I said to myself, 'Alright I can do it.' But I knew Annie would make her putt."

Instead, Lee sailed her first putt some five feet past the hole. Thurman indeed made the eight-footer for a par, then Lee missed her comeback putt, lost th hole, and was five holes down in the match.

Thurman won the 27th hole with a routine par to go 6 up. The next three holes were halved. When Thurman and Lee made threes on the 165-yard 31st hole, Thurman with a four-foot putt, the match was over. Thurman and Lee shook hands, hugged, and a grueling week of golf came to an end with the two finalists having played nine rounds in six days.

In the semifinals, Lee had defeated gallergy favorite Michelle Wie, 12, of Honolulu, Hawaii, despite Wie's overpowering tee shots. Wie outdrove Lee by 60 to 70 yards in their match but missed several key putts to lose, 3 and 2. Thurman overcame an early deficit to defeat Yvonne Choe, 19, of Temple City, Calif., 2 and 1.

Jessica Reese, 21, of Santa Rosa, Calif., took medalist honors with rounds of 76-66-142.

The Sacromento team won the Team Championship trophy with a score of 151-142-293. Sacramento's players were Mina Harigae (75-76-151), Reese(76-66-142) and Casey Gee (81-82-163). In the Women's Amateur Public Links team competition, only the best two scores of each team's three players count each day toward the team total.