U.S. Amateur Golf Championship : Newcomers Green, Patton Play Today in 36-Hole Title Match

Danny Green and Chris Patton, both newcomers on the national amateur scene, each won twice Saturday, and will meet in the final of the 89th annual U.S. Amateur Golf Championship.

Green, 32, of Jackson, Tenn., eliminated two-time champion Jay Sigel, 1-up, on the 19th hole in a morning quarterfinal. He returned to Merion Golf Club’s 6,523-yard, par-70 course in the afternoon, beating Jerry Courville, 30, of Norwalk, Conn., 2-up, to qualify for today’s 36-hole final.

Patton, 21, a Clemson senior from Fountain Inn., S.C., whose best this year was a fifth in the South Carolina State Amateur, defeated Michael Brannan, 33, a golf equipment salesman from Trumbull, Conn., 3 and 2, in the other semifinal.

Earlier, Patton eliminated Kevin Wentworth, an Oklahoma State senior from Manteca, Calif., 2 and 1.

Green, who attended the University of Tennessee at Martin, blew a 2-up lead with two holes to play against Sigel. But Sigel struggled on 19, and wound up conceding a birdie putt and the match.

Green, trailing Sigel by a hole at the turn in the morning round, evened the match with a birdie at the 10th. He edged ahead at 12 with a birdie, and boosted his lead to 2-up with another at 15.

They halved the 16th, leaving Sigel two down with two holes to play.

Sigel, in his 23rd Amateur including titles in 1982 and ‘83, hung in with an 18-foot birdie putt at 17.

Sigel, 45, won 18 and deadlocked the match as Green three-putted.

The two moved to a first extra hole with some 3,000 fans, mostly rooting for Sigel from nearby Berwyn, Pa., lining the fairway.

Sigel’s tee shot landed in a divot. He hit into a trap, blasted out 15 feet past the pin and missed the putt coming back. He conceded a six-foot birdie putt to Green, who was on in two.