One For The Books

Growing comfortable: Kittleson altered his swing to go with his new height.

It wasn't just Lee's play Sunday, but his dominance throughout match play on Ross' 7,281-yard, par-70 masterpiece that was so impressive. Prior to the final Lee hadn't had any of his previous five matches go beyond the 16th hole. Only one of Lee's opponents, second-round foe Jacob Burger, ever had a lead on him, and that lasted all of one hole. Indeed, the only thing that could have derailed Lee was "a click" he felt in his left shoulder while warming up on the driving range prior to his 4-and-3 quarterfinal victory Friday over Morgan Hoffmann. (An X-ray that afternoon showed no damage, and by Sunday any soreness had essentially disappeared.)

"He's just a solid player," said Patrick Reed, who Lee dispatched, 3 and 2, in Saturday's semifinals. "He keeps the ball in play off the tee, hits greens. There aren't any faults in his game."

Noted Kittleson: "He didn't miss one putt inside 15 feet that I can remember. He was making everything."

For that, credit Sim, a family friend who has watched over Lee each of the last three summers. Owner of a driving range in San Diego, Sim felt Lee's ball-striking was fine but that his short-game needed attention. To help, he contacted the folks at La Costa Resort and got the green light for Lee to practice there while in town.

"It's the biggest improvement he's made," Sim said of Lee's sharpened play around the greens. "It's what has allowed him to make such big leaps this year."

Lee's stellar run filled the void when a handful of prominent Americans bowed out of the championship early. Of the five former U.S. Walker Cup team members in the field, only Rickie Fowler made it to the third round of match play. Jamie Lovemark was beaten in the first round, while Billy Horschel, Kyle Stanley and Brian Harman fell in the second.

In their place, new names emerged. Robbie Fillmore, a BYU junior who had taken two years away from the game while serving a church mission from 2004-06, earned medalist honors with a six-under 134. Georgia senior Adam Mitchell, a second-team All-American, reached the semifinals before falling to Kittleson, 4 and 2.

Then there was Kittleson himself, a 19-year-old from Scottsdale whose junior career hinted that bigger things were to come. Little did he know one of them was his own "bigger" body. Kittleson grew two inches during his freshman year in Tallahassee, requiring swing adjustments to account for his new 6-foot-3 frame. It wasn't until the end of the spring semester that Kittleson felt comfortable over the ball again. His confidence grew, however, during a trip to Scotland earlier this month with his Seminole teammates, where he successfully played several British Open courses, including a 64 on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

If there were any nerves on Kittleson's part, you wouldn't have known it from the 10-foot birdie putt he rolled in on the first hole to take the early Sunday lead. He went 2 up with a nifty up-and-down for par on the fifth hole that Lee failed to match.

At the par-4 seventh, however, Lee swung the momentum his way with a birdie to win the hole, the start of a nine-hole stretch where Lee won seven holes (five with birdies) to go 5 up. He preserved that advantage at the end of the morning 18, making impressive up-and-down par saves on Nos. 17 and 18 to halve the closing two holes.