John "Spider" Miller

John "Spider" Miller of Bloomington, Ind. won three of the first six holes and held on the rest of the way to win the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, beating Randy Lewis of Alma, Mich., in the 18-hole final, 3 and 2.

Miller, a 46-year-old beer wholesaler and father of five who putts with a long 60-inch putter, became the oldest winner in this 25-and-over championship's 16-year history. He was three years older than three-time champion Jay Sigel, who was 43 when he won in 1987. The youngest winner was 30 years old.

Miller one-putted eight times and was one over par for 16 holes while the 39-year-old Lewis struggled on the greens.

"I hate to brag about my putter," said Miller with a laugh. "If all these other guys get one then I'll lose my advantage. I'm not sure I had a three-putt the whole tournament. I putted well all week, or I would have been long gone."

Miller parred and won the first, and won holes five and six as well before Lewis rebounded to win holes seven and eight with pars. But, that was as close as Lewis could get. Miller won the 10th with a birdie 4 and took the 14th with a par 4 when Lewis three-putted from 17 feet. His breaking first putt slid 4 feet by the hole and he missed the comebacker.

Miller, who was one of the leading qualifiers after 36 holes of stroke play at even-par 143, four strokes behind the medalist, closed out the match with a par 5 on the 16th.

Both finalists gained exemptions for the 1997 U.S. Amateur, and Miller received a chance to play at the 1997 Masters Tournament.

Jerry Courville Jr. of Milford, Conn., fired a 65 in the second round of stroke play that vaulted him to medalist honors with a 4-under-par 139 (74-65). It was the second-lowest round in Mid-Amateur history. From there, Courville's match-play march lasted until the third round, where he was defeated by Lewis 2 and 1.

Courville was one of five past champions to advance to match play. The others were Tim Jackson (1994) of Germantown, Tenn.; Jim Stuart (1990 and 1991) of Macon, Ga.; Jim Taylor (1989) of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and Jeff Thomas (1993) of South Plainfield, N.J.

Among the best shots of the championship were two holes-in-one. One came from Casey Alexander of Massapequa Park, N.Y., during the first round of stroke play. The other earned former U.S. Amateur champion Nataniel Crosby of Park City, Utah, a place in the field. He aced the second playoff hole during his local qualifier to claim the last berth there.

The USGA accepted a record 4,102 entries for the championship. For the first time, the championship was televised. ESPN aired two hours of coverage the last two days, with the final shown live from noon to 2 p.m.