Austin Eaton III

Austin Eaton III, 35, of New London, N.H., defeated Josh Dennis, 27, of Birmingham, Ala., 1 up, in the 36-hole championship match of the 24th U.S. Mid-Amateur played at the 6,967-yard, par-70 Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga.

The two competitors were all square going to the 36th hole, a par 4 measuring 470 yards. Dennis, playing first, pushed his drive right into a lateral water hazard, while Eaton found the fairway. Faced with a 205-yard approach, Eaton choked down on a 4-iron and hit a well-placed shot 25 feet slightly above the flagstick.

Following a drop, Dennis came up just short of the green with his third shot. His ensuing chip stopped 10 feet short. Eaton lagged his birdie putt to 2 feet and when Dennis failed to hole his bogey putt, he conceded the match.

"It's pretty amazing," said Eaton of winning his first USGA championship. "When I knelt out there next to the trophy on the 18th green, it kind of hit me then that it's my trophy this year. It's pretty cool."

For the first time all week, the gusty winds that can be so prevalent at Sea Island G.C. finally kicked into high gear, making a challenging golf course all that more difficult.

"All day, any shot that you got up in the wind, it either killed it or it just kicked it somewhere bad," said Dennis. "The wind was just brutal."

Eaton seemed in control of the match throughout the morning 18. He birdied the par-4 first hole and twice built as much as a 4-up advantage before he missed a 3 1/2-footer for par at the 18th, which dropped his lead to 3 up going into the lunch break.

That gave Dennis a little momentum for the afternoon round and he won two of the first four holes to trim the deficit to one. He squared the match at the 26th hole and then took his first only lead of the match at the 29th hole when Eaton lipped out a 212-footer for par.

Eaton immediately squared the match at the par-3 30th hole with a par and took a 1-up lead at the par-4 31st hole with another par. Eaton had a chance to go 2 up at the par-4 32nd hole, but his 6-footer for par stopped inches short of the hole.

After the players halved the par-5 33rd hole, Dennis rolled in a 15-footer on the 34th hole to square the match for the third time. The two players halved the par-3 35th hole with pars - Eaton holing a tough 4-footer for par and Dennis two-putting from 30 feet, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.