June 26, 2000

Kansas City, Mo. - University of Missouri golfer Mark McBride won the Missouri Amateur Championship Sunday at Oakwood Country Club in Kansas City, Mo. McBride, who will be a junior this fall at Mizzou, won the match-play title 2-and-1 over Brian Norton of Prairie Village, Kan. on Sunday afternoon.

McBride made a three-foot birdie putt on the 35th hole of play to defeat the veteran Norton, who is a former Kansas Amateur champion who has played in four U.S. Opens.

McBride, a native of Lebanon, Mo., used a sand wedge from 106 yards out for his third shot on the par-5 17th hole and ended up just left of the pin. After Norton missed a 15-foot birdie putt of his own, McBride sunk his putt to claim the hole, which gave him the championship.

"I don't know how it went in. I was shaking," said McBride of his winning putt. "I backed off of it the first time and told myself, 'You've got to get rid of this before you make the stroke."

The turning point of the match came on the ninth hole of the second round when McBride, trailing by a hole, hit a pitch shot from over 100 yards out to within three feet of the hole, tieing the match with a birdie.

He birdied the next three holes to gain a two-hole lead, and led by one before closing out the match on the 17th.

"This is definitely the highlight of my career," McBride said of the event, which began with 500 golfers trying to qualify for the 32-player match play field. I have the Missouri Stroke Play Championships and then the U.S. Amateur Qualifier coming up in July. After today I'm really confident in my game. They'll be tough, but I'll give them my best shot."