Meeks Is U.S. Amateur Champion With 7 and 6 Victory Over Yates

After four years of disappointment, Eric Meeks finally succeeded at the U.S. Amateur golf championships.

“I’ve played well before, but not in anything as good as this. It was a good time to do it,” Meeks, 23, of Walnut, said after becoming the U.S. Amateur champion Sunday with a 7 and 6 win over Danny Yates of Atlanta.

In each of his four previous U.S. Amateurs, Meeks, from Friendly Hills Country Club, had missed qualifying by a stroke.

But this year, Meeks finished just one shot away from winning the qualifying medal.

Meeks, a two-time all-Pacific 10 player at Arizona, won the first four holes of the match with Yates, a 38-year-old insurance salesman. He scored three straight birdies to secure a 4-hole advantage midway through the 36-hole final.

In the second round, Meeks won the first 6 holes to go 10-up with 12 holes left.

The match ended at the par-4 476-yard No. 12, where both players made par. Meeks sank the winning 18-inch putt as a light rain began to fall.

Meeks was 5-under par after 18 holes and 7-under after 22.