Wi Weathers Storm, Thunders to Match-Play Win

Charlie Wi of Thousands Oaks played one golf match Friday.

He beat two opponents, Michael and Andrew.

Wi whipped Michael Kelley of nearby Columbus, Ohio, 5 and 4, in the opening round of match play in the U.S. Amateur Championship.

At the same time, Wi beat a much more formidable opponent, Hurricane Andrew, or at least its remnants. The lingering storm sent torrents of rain and bolts of lightning up the Ohio Valley on Thursday and Friday, forcing a suspension of play midway through Wi’s match with Kelley on Thursday and causing a 5 1/2-hour delay in the resumption of the match Friday.

Finally, they played. And Wi--who had a commanding 7-up lead heading into the final nine holes--breezed at the Muirfield Village Golf Club. He will play Art Diaz of Scottsdale, Ariz., in today’s second round of match play. Officials also will try to get the third round in today.

“The delay didn’t really bother me,” said Wi, the 1990 California Amateur champion. “I had a pretty comfortable lead and I just wanted to keep the pressure on.”

Wi had two bogeys, eight pars and four birdies, including one on No. 14 that gave him the match.

“I don’t think it was that I got off to a good start,” Wi said of Thursday’s large lead. “I hit it into the water on No. 2 and took a bogey, but he had a double bogey and I won the hole. I think it was just that he got off to a bad start.”

Wi’s first birdie came Thursday on the 386-yard, par-four No. 3. He hit a one-iron 240 yards off the tee, knocked a sand wedge to within 10 feet of the cup and sank the birdie putt to go 3-up. A bogey by Kelley on No. 4 gave Wi a 4-up lead and he jumped to 5-up on the par-five, 526-yard fifth hole by two-putting for a birdie from 25 feet.

He virtually ended the match in the fading light Thursday by winning the seventh hole with a birdie and the eighth with a par.

Only at that point, Wi said, did he relax.

“When I made the 10-foot putt on No. 7, I started to feel comfortable.”

Kelley, however, began to stage a comeback when the match resumed Friday, picking up three holes by the 13th.

“I got a little worried after No. 13,” Wi said. “I just wanted to concentrate, get it done, and get back into the clubhouse.”

He did just that, sinking a putt from 12 feet on No. 14 for a birdie and the match.

David Berganio Jr. of Sylmar will play his second-round match today against Allan Bratton of College Station, Tex.