GOLF ROUNDUP : Woods Reaches U.S. Amateur Semifinals

Eighteen-year-old Tiger Woods of Cypress easily won his quarterfinal match Friday and moved a step closer to becoming the youngest U.S. Amateur champion in the golf tournament’s 94-year history.

Jack Nicklaus was 19 when he won his first U.S. Amateur in 1959.

Woods never trailed in defeating 35-year-old Tim Jackson of Germantown, Tenn., 5 and 4, on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Also advancing to the semifinals were Oklahoma State teammates Kris Cox and Trip Kuehne, both juniors, and Kent senior Eric Frishette.

Frishette matched Woods with his 5-and-4 victory over John Curley of Osterville, Mass., a semifinalist last year; Kuehne defeated Christian Raynor of Tallahassee, Fla., 2 up, and Cox edged Ed Gibstein of Matinecock, N.Y., 1 up.

Woods took the lead by winning the fourth hole and was one under par when he closed out his match with a short putt for par on the 14th.

Woods, a three-time U.S. Junior Amateur champion (1991-93) who will be a freshman at Stanford next month, will meet Frishette in the semifinals. The 36-hole championship final is set for Sunday.

Both Cox and Kuehne were extended to the 18th hole, where both won by making long birdie putts.

After winning the first three holes with birdies, Cox, 20, of San Antonio faltered and had to birdie the last hole to save his victory.

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Loren Roberts’ faltering finish in the second round of the NEC World Series of Golf opened the doors to a host of international challengers--including Nick Price.

With three holes to go on the Firestone North course at Akron, Ohio, Roberts held a two-shot lead. Then he lost four shots to par with a 6-3-7 finish that left Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal (67) of Spain, Mark McCumber (67) and Steve Lowery (66) in a tie for the lead after 36 holes.

They were at seven-under-par 133 and a shot ahead of a group that included Price (66), winner of the last two majors, Australian Greg Norman (67) and U.S. Open champion Ernie Els (66) of South Africa.

Price, winner of the PGA and British Open, along with three American tour events and already assured of player-of-the-year honors, shot 66 and was at 134 in his first start since some in-office surgery to remove cancerous moles from his back.

Roberts’ late-round woes left him with a 70 and tied at 135 with Hale Irwin and Scott Hoch.

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Defending champion Dave Stockton, Tom Weiskopf and Jack Kiefer were tied for the first-round lead at the Franklin Quest Championship, a senior tournament which got under way in Park City, Utah, despite Bert Yancey’s fatal heart attack.

Stockton, who set a scoring record of 199 in last year’s tournament, Weiskopf and Keifer shot four-under-par 68s.

Bob Murphy, Jay Siegel, and Charles Coody were at 69.

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Betsy King, who is one victory away from qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame, shot a three-under-par 69 for a share of the second-round lead at the du Maurier Classic in Ottawa.

King is tied at eight-under 136 with rising star Kelly Robbins (70) and Martha Nause (71).

Liselotte Neumann, who won the British and Swedish women’s opens the last two weeks, shot a 67 to share the day’s low round with fellow Swede Annika Sorenstam, Jane Geddes and Robin Walton.