Dickerson Beats Hamilton on Final Hole to Win Title

Bubba Dickerson birdied the 36th and final hole Sunday to beat Robert Hamilton at the U.S. Amateur Championship, completing another remarkable comeback on the difficult finishing stretch at East Lake Golf Club.

Dickerson, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Florida, knocked in a 15-foot putt for a 1-up victory. By then, Hamilton already was hopelessly out of contention, having knocked his tee shot into a bunker and needing two more whacks just to reach the green of the 235-yard par-3 hole.

Robert Dickerson charged onto the green to hug his son, who broke into tears before accepting the Havemeyer Trophy.

“It was my goal to get my name on that trophy,” he said. “I’ve thought about it my whole life.”

Dickerson was on the verge of getting blown out in the morning, going 5 down after just 14 holes. If the match had been one round, it would have been over.

But the final is 36 holes--one round in the morning, another in the afternoon--so Dickerson knew he still had life the first time he came to No. 15, the most difficult hole on a course where five-time U.S. Amateur champion Bobby Jones learned the game.

Dickerson picked up his first birdie on the 471-yard, uphill par 4. He knocked his approach to 15 feet and made the putt.

That began a birdie-par-birdie-par run that trimmed his deficit to one hole going to the final 18.

In the afternoon, the players went back and forth, neither managing more than a 1-up lead the rest of the way. Hamilton was 1 up after his opponent double-bogeyed the 16th--knocking his drive next to a small pine tree--but Hamilton knocked his drive into the rough at 17, leading to a match-tying bogey.

“Going to 18, I still felt pretty good,” said Hamilton, 23, of Carmichael, Calif. “I still had a chance to win. At the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for.”