Simpson Loses Senior Amateur in Playoff

Bo Williams blew a 4-up lead Saturday, but won the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship in sudden death when San Diego’s Joe Simpson missed a six-foot putt on the first extra hole.

Williams chipped from off the green to within three inches for a conceded four. Simpson then missed a six-foot putt for par.

The victory enabled Williams, 60, of Ocala, Fla., to become the eighth multiple winner of the championship. Williams won in 1986 at Edina, Minn.

Simpson was attempting to complete the first father-son combination to win a national championship of the United States Golf Assn. His son, Scott, won the 1987 U.S. Open Championship.

The final began as a rout as Williams rode a sizzling short game to a 4-up lead after eight holes. He chipped in from off the green to halve the par-4 sixth hole, then holed a 25-foot bunker shot at No. 8. Williams also won the first two holes after bogeys by Simpson.

The match then took a dramatic turn on the back nine as Simpson won four consecutive holes to even the score. He holed a 30-foot putt for a birdie at the 12th hole and followed that with a near hole-in-one at the par-3 13th. His ball rolled completely around the hole and stopped six inches away for an easy birdie.

Williams bogeyed the next two holes. He hit his third shot at the par-5 15th into the water, then missed a 3-foot par putt at No. 16.

He advanced to the final by defeating Bob Lowry of Huntsville, Ala., 2 and 1, in the first of Saturday morning’s semifinals. Simpson eliminated Amos Jones of Atlanta in his semifinal match, 3 and 2.