Costa Mesa’s Maki Beaten by Floridian in U.S. Junior Golf Final

David Duval hit a shot so bad Saturday that it turned out good and helped him beat Austin Maki of Costa Mesa in the final of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championships.

After his tee shot on the 15th hole at Singing Hills landed on the fourth green, Duval looked as if he would lose his one-hole lead over Maki.

Instead, Duval ended up winning the hole, then held off a typical late charge by Maki to win the tournament, 1-up.

“He missed that drive so bad he should have been (out of bounds),” said Maki, who had become the first player to qualify last in medal play and then reach the final. “Instead he had a good shot (to the green).”

Duval, of Ponte Vedra, Fla., had birdied the par-four 14th hole to take his first lead in the final. But his drive from the elevated tee of the par-four 15th looked as if it was headed for disaster.

Instead it went over a lake and landed 20 feet from the pin on No. 4.

“I hit it hard enough and off line enough to get a break like that,” he said.

Duval got a free drop that gave him a better angle to the 15th green.

After Maki’s second shot sailed over the green, Duval hit his shot over a 40-foot tree and dropped it eight feet from the pin.

When Maki missed a three-foot putt for bogey, Duval was up by two.

Maki had made a habit of rallying in this tournament, and he did it again, making a five-footer on No. 17 to cut Duval’s lead to a single hole. But his comeback try came up inches short when a 60-foot birdie putt on 18 stopped just in front of the cup.

Maki finished a miraculous week in which he finished tied for 57th with nine other golfers during qualifying.