Kim Wins Teen Battle at Pebble

There they were, a couple of high school kids out for a round of golf. They weren’t playing for money, yet their match was hardly a friendly contest between buddies.

Instead, Sung Yoon Kim of South Korea and James Oh of Lakewood were playing for a spot in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach, and a chance to become the youngest winner in the history of this nation’s oldest golf championship.

Kim won Friday’s battle of 17-year-olds, closing out the match on the final hole, to join Hunter Haas, 22, Ben Curtis, 20, and David Gossett, 20, in the semifinals.

Today, Kim will play Haas, a senior at Oklahoma, and Gossett, a sophomore at Texas, will face Curtis, a senior at Kent.

Haas, the reigning U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, was a 2 and 1 winner over Charlie Woerner, a senior at USC. Gossett was a 4 and 3 winner over James Driscoll, a senior at Virginia.

Curtis, who began playing on a golf course his grandfather owns in Delaware, Ohio, was a 7 and 6 winner over Andrew Sanders, a junior at Houston.

Though the weeklong championship has been dominated by youngsters--no player older than 22 made the quarterfinals--a match between high schoolers in the later rounds of such a major event is a rarity.

The youngest player to win the U.S. Amateur was Tiger Woods, who captured the first of his three consecutive titles in 1994 at 18.

“I felt more comfortable playing another 17-year-old,” Kim said through a translator. “I’m in the final four now, so I’m pretty excited.”

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Continuing his birdie binge, David Toms maintained his distance from an elite field by posting a tournament-record 29 points for the second-round lead in the Sprint International at Castle Rock, Colo.

Toms, who had 16 points to claim the first-round lead by one point over Phil Mickelson, added 13 to his total under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event.

That bettered the 36-hole record of 27 points shared by Mickelson (1997) and Vijay Singh (1998).

Chasing Toms was Paul Goydos, with 26 points, and a talented group that included David Duval at 25, Ernie Els at 24 and Steve Elkington at 23.

“These scores are ridiculous, mine especially,” Goydos said.

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Jay Sigel posted his best opening round on the Senior PGA Tour in four months, a five-under-par 67 that gave him a two-shot lead over a group of eight in the BankBoston Classic at Concord, Mass.

Tied for second at Nashawtuc Country Club were defending champion Hale Irwin, last week’s tour winner Christy O’Connor of Ireland, John Bland of South Africa, Bruce Summerhays, Bob Charles of New Zealand, Tom McGinnis, Hubert Green and Alberto Giannone of Argentina.

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Akiko Fukushima, Nancy Scranton and Tracy Hanson shot five-under 67s to share the first-round lead in the $650,000 Firstar LPGA Classic at Beavercreek, Ohio.

Jan Stephenson, Hiromi Kobayashi, Kris Monaghan and Wendy Ward were one shot behind at the Country Club of the North, a 6,302-yard course built by Jack Nicklaus.

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Nick Faldo complained about not being informed of his chances to earn a wild-card spot on the European Ryder Cup team.

Faldo is seven strokes off the lead at the BMW Open in Munich, where a wild scramble to qualify the Ryder Cup is underway before the European team is named Sunday when the tournament ends.

The remarks of the three-time Masters champion, eager to play a record 12th Ryder Cup despite his prolonged slump, were aimed at European captain Mark James.

“I think it would have been nice to get a message ‘nay or yea,’ ” Faldo said. “You either want me or you don’t.”

James had triggered speculation that Faldo, no matter how he does at the BMW, would not be chosen by saying he wouldn’t select a wild-card outside the top 20 on the Ryder Cup points list.

Faldo would only reach No. 22 by winning at Munich.