USGA Selects 2008 Men's World Amateur Team


The United States Golf Association has selected three players who will represent the USA at the 2008 Men's World Amateur Team Championship, to be played October 16-19 at Royal Adelaide Golf Club and The Grange Golf Club West Course in Adelaide, Australia.

The American team will be comprised of Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Calif., Billy Horschel of Grant, Fla., and Jamie Lovemark of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. All three players were members of the USA's victorious 2007 Walker Cup Team.

Kyle Stanley of Gig Harbor, Wash., was named first alternate, while 2008 U.S. Amateur runner-up Drew Kittleson of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the second alternate.

"I can't wait," said Fowler, the 2008 NCAA Player of the Year. "It's going to be a tremendous opportunity and a great competition, and hopefully we can return home with a victory. I think we have a very solid team, and if we concern ourselves more with how we play instead of worrying about the other teams, we should have a great chance."

USGA past president Walter Driver will serve as the U.S. Men's Team captain. "I am excited to have all three of these extremely talented players representing our country," said Driver. "They have a strong sense of commitment to the game and an idea about what it takes to play in international competition."

The Women's Amateur Team Championship will be conducted prior to the men's competition, October 8-11 at The Grange Golf Club's East and West Courses. Representing the USA will be 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Amanda Blumenherst of Scottsdale, Ariz., Tiffany Joh of San Diego, Calif., and Alison Walshe of Westford, Mass. Marcia Luigs of Carmel, Ind., USGA Women's Committee chairman in 2005 and 2006, will serve as the U.S. Women's Team captain.

A record-setting 126 teams (72 men's and 54 women's) will compete in the 2008 World Amateur Team Championships, with South Africa defending its 2006 women's championship (Espirito Santo Trophy) and The Netherlands defending its 2006 men's title (Eisenhower Trophy).

Conducted by the International Golf Federation, the World Amateur Team Championships are held every two years. The competition is four days of stroke play, and a country may field a team of two or three players. 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 total is the team's score for the championship.

USA Team Member Bios

Fowler, 19, is the 2008 NCAA Ben Hogan Award winner as the NCAA Player of the Year - the first freshman ever to earn that distinction - after his first year playing at Oklahoma State University. He made the cut at the 2008 U.S. Open Championship at Torrey Pines in San Diego, where he finished T-60. Fowler also won the individual title at the 2008 Big 12 Conference Championship, the 2007 Southern California High School Championship and the 2006 California State High School Championship.

Horschel, 21, is a two-time first-team All-American and the 2007 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. Currently heading into his senior year at the University of Florida, he posted a USGA record 60 in the first round of stroke play at the 2006 U.S. Amateur and also qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open, where he missed the cut.

Lovemark, 19, became only the eighth freshman to win the NCAA individual title when he accomplished that feat in 2007, representing the University of Southern California. He earned the Arnold Palmer (national championship individual medalist), Jack Nicklaus (national player of the year) and Phil Mickelson (nation's outstanding freshman) Awards and was tabbed the Pac-10 Co-Golfer of the Year.

Stanley, 20, won the 2006 Southern Amateur in Birmingham, Ala., by posting a 9-under-par total of 275 for 72 holes to win by a single stroke. He was the individual runner-up to Lovemark at the 2007 NCAA Championship and is entering his junior year at Clemson University.

Kittleson, 19, recently finished as the runner-up to Danny Lee of New Zealand at the 2008 U.S. Amateur Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. A sophomore at Florida State University, he was a member of the Seminoles' first-ever ACC championship team in 2008.