NEWS

Liu, 14, becomes youngest US Junior Amateur champ with easy victory

By Associated Press
Published on
Fourteen-year-old Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., beat Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., 4 and 2 Saturday to become the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion. Liu, who turns 15 next month, is more than six months younger than Tiger Woods when he won the first of his three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles in 1991. Thomas, 17, who has committed to Alabama in the fall of 2011, bogeyed six of the final 11 holes, including the final three. Liu clinched the victory with a par on the 169-yard, par-3 16th hole on the Classic Course at Egypt Valley Country Club. Liu completed the first 18 holes of the 36-hole championship match with an 8-under 64. Thomas shot a 5-under 67 but still found himself three holes down midway through the match.