Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (27 October) – Bolstered by a 6-under-par 66 from D.J. Trahan, the national college player of the year, the USA swept past a three-stroke deficit and won the 2002 World Amateur Team Championship by three strokes over third-round leader France at Saujana Golf & Country Club.

“That was as fine a round of golf as you will see at the amateur level,” said USA captain O. Gordon Brewer Jr. “He picked the team up on his shoulders.”

Trahan's round, that included five birdies, a bogey and an eagle, boosted the USA to a four-day total of 8-under-par 568 and a successful defense of the Eisenhower Trophy, which they won for the 12th time. Trahan, who plays golf at Clemson University in South Carolina in the U.S., was 2-under-par at the turn and eagled the par-5 13th hole and then finished with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes.

For the champions, 2002 U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes shot 2-over-par 74 and helped the USA register a 4-under-par total of 140 on the final day.

Trahan's 66 tied for the lowest individual score of the championship and was the second-lowest final round in 23 playings of the WATC.

“He played very good golf. He holed many putts and hit good iron shots. His game was perfect,” said Eric Chaudouet of France, who played with Trahan.

France began the final round with a three-stroke lead over the USA but, according to their coach, the critical point was at the 14th and 15th holes.

“We made a bogey on the 14th and didn't hole our birdie putts on the 15th,” said French coach Anne Leconiat of their 5-under-par total of 571.

The USA, meanwhile, made two pars each on those key holes and did not lose ground. Trahan's eagle on the par-13th, however, was another critical play, according to Brewer. “Prior to that it was nip and tuck,” said the USA captain.

“We are disappointed but we are very proud for our country and our game in this championship and under this pressure,” said Raphael Pellicioli of France, the 2002 European Amateur champion.

The French runner-up finish was their highest in 23 times in the championship, besting their third-place ranking in 1992.

Australia and Philippines were tied in third place at 2-under-par 574 followed by Austria and New Zealand at joint fifth at 1-under-par 574. Finishing the top 10 were England (7th at 2-over 578), Colombia (8th at 4-over-par 580), Italy (9th at 5-over-par 581) and Spain (10th at 6-over-par 582).

Heavy early morning rain and lightning activity forced a change in the championship format. Invoking a condition of play, the WAGC Championship Committee decided to implement a cut following the third round and limited play in the fourth round to the leading 20 teams. Play started at the first and 10th tees of the Palm Course at 10 a.m.

All teams in positions 21-63 did not play a fourth round and their final positions were determined by their total scores after 54 holes.

“The WAGC Championship Committee regret that it was not possible for all teams to complete 72 holes,” said Championship director Peter Dawson. “But, this decision was made in view of the weather forecast and the need to concentrate maintenance resources on one course.”

The last team to make the cut was the Netherlands, in 20th position and 18 strokes back at 11-over-par. They relished this position in the top 20 by shooting a total of 2-under-par 142 to finish in 13th position. Edward de Jong registered the best 9-hole score of the championship, a 6-under-par 30 (four birdies and an eagle) on the second nine of the Palm course, on his way to a fourth-round 68.

Although no individual honors are awarded by the WAGC, it did recognize Marcus Fraser of Australia, who shot 7-under-par 281.

For complete results, visit www.wagc.org and click on the Golfstat icon. Visit www.wagc.org/pix for downloadable photos.

Conducted by the World Amateur Golf Council, which comprises national governing bodies of golf in more than 100 countries, the World Amateur Team Championships are a biennial international amateur competition, which is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, American and European-African.

Each team, which has two or three players, plays 18 holes of stroke play for four days. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72 holes) total is the team's score for the championship.

The 2004 World Amateur Team Championship will be played at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort and Country Club in Puerto Rico.

For complete results, please visit www.wagc.org and click on the Golfstat icon. For photos, visit www.wagc.org/pix.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Results of Sunday's (27 October) fourth round of the World Amateur Team Championship, played at the Saujana Golf & Country Club (Palm Course: par 36-36--72, 6,343 meters, 6,939 yards:

Palm Course (Final Round Only)
Place Team Scoring Rounds Total score
To par Thru Today 1 2 3 4
1 USA -8 F -4 137 149 142 140 568
2 France -5 F +2 142 144 139 146 571
T3 Australia -2 F -2 152 143 137 142 574
T3 Philippines -2 F -4 146 145 143 140 574
T5 Austria -1 F -3 150 140 144 141 575
T5 New Zeal. -1 F -4 149 142 144 140 575
7 England +2 F -1 143 147 145 143 578
8 Colombia +4 F -3 143 153 143 141 580
9 Italy +5 F E 150 150 137 144 581
10 Spain +6 F +3 148 147 140 147 582
T11 Chin.Taipei +7 F E 150 141 148 144 583
T11 Sweden +7 F E 144 154 141 144 583
13 Netherlds +9 F -2 150 152 141 142 585
14 Wales +10 F +4 151 143 144 148 586
T15 Argentina +12 F +8 143 146 147 152 588
T15 Germany +12 F +5 148 144 147 149 588
T15 Switz. +12 F +2 151 145 146 146 588
18 Finland +15 F +8 143 148 148 152 591
19 Norway +16 F +6 150 148 144 150 592
20 Thailand +17 F +9 143 152 145 153 593

Failed to Qualify for Fourth Round

T21 Brazil 2 +12 F +2 150 148 146 444
T21 Denmark 2 +12 F +4 146 150 148 444
T21 Japan 2 +12 F +2 155 143 146 444
T21 Korea +12 F +4 144 152 148 444
T21 Scot. 2 +12 F +1 150 149 145 444
T21 S. Africa 2 +12 F -2 155 147 142 444
27 India 2 +13 F E 155 146 144 445
T28 Ireland 2 +15 F +8 151 144 152 447
T28 Malaysia 2 +15 F +7 147 149 151 447
30 Venezuela 2 +16 F +1 150 153 145 448
T31 Canada 1 +18 F +2 157 147 146 450
T31 Chile 1 +18 F +1 160 145 145 450
33 Pakistan 2 +19 F +10 148 149 154 451
T34 Portugal 2 +22 F +8 144 158 152 454
T34 P. Rico 2 +22 F +9 150 151 153 454
T36 Czech
Rep. 1 +26 F +9 155 150 153 458
T36 Paraguay 1+26 F +7 152 155 151 458
38 Ecuador 1 +28 F +8 153 155 152 460
39 Iceland 1 +29 F +12 150 155 156 461
40 Mexico 1 +30 F +5 161 152 149 462
T41 Guat. 1 +31 F +7 152 160 151 463
T41 Slovenia 1 +31 F +12 158 149 156 463
43 El Sal. 1 +33 F +13 159 149 157 465
44 Bolivia 1 +35 F +10 167 146 154 467
45 Hong Kong,
China 1 +36 F +14 156 154 158 468
46 Costa Rica 1+37 F +13 167 145 157 469
47 Zimbabwe 1 +39 F +16 155 156 160 471
48 Bermuda 1 +40 F +13 159 156 157 472
49 Belgium 1 +43 F +11 161 159 155 475
50 Swaziland 1 44 F +20 152 160 164 476
51 Singapore 1 +45 F +18 157 158 162 477
52 Turkey 1 +47 F +19 157 159 163 479
53 Egypt 1 +51 F +17 161 161 161 483
54 Greece 1 +60 F +21 167 160 165 492
55 Russian
Fed. 1 +67 F +26 166 163 170 499
56 Lebanon 1 +70 F +27 164 167 171 502
57 Slovakia 1 +78 F +28 179 159 172 510
58 Panama 1 +79 F +30 166 171 174 511
59 Estonia 1 +87 F +31 173 171 175 519
60 Latvia 1 +92 F +28 175 177 172 524
61 Croatia 1 +108 F +34 186 176 178 540
T62 Islamic Rep.
of Iran 1 +114 F +36 186 180 180 546
T62 Saudi
Arabia 1 +114 F +35 181 186 179 546

Final Individual Top 20

1 Marcus Fraser, AUS -7 F -2 74 70 67 70 281
2 Gregory Bourdy, FRA-6 F E 70 69 71 72 282
3 Angelo Que, PHI -5 F E 72 70 69 72 283
4 Tim Wilkinson, NZL -4 F -3 77 69 69 69 284
5 Camilo Villegas, COL-2 F -1 68 75 72 71 286
6 Hunter Mahan, USA E F +5 68 72 71 77 288
7 Martin Wiegele, AUT+1 F -2 78 71 70 70 289
T8 Jamie Elson, ENG +2 F -1 71 77 71 71 290
T8 Edoardo Molinari, ITA +2 F -1 76 77 66 71 290
T10 Michael
Thannhauser, GER +3 F +2 72 72 73 74 291
T10 D.J. Trahan, USA +3 F -6 76 78 71 66 291
T10 Gary
Wolstenholme, ENG +3 F E 74 71 74 72 291
T13 Matias Anselmo, ARG +4 F +6 70 71 73 78 292
T13 Pablo Martin, ESP +4 F +4 73 75 68 76 292
T13 Francesco Molinari, ITA +4 F +1 74 74 71 73 292
T16 Ricky Barnes, USA +5 F +2 69 77 73 74 293
T16 Thomas Kogler, AUT +5 F -1 72 76 74 71 293
T16 David Price, WAL +5 F +2 77 70 72 74 293
T19 Lars-Petter
Brovold, NOR +6 F +3 78 72 69 75 294
T19 Julien Clement, SUI +6 F E 79 70 73 72 294