World's top amateurs look to join an elite list when U.S. Amateur comes to Tacoma area this summer

Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

In addition to being four of the greatest golfers in history, they are also each winners of the U.S. Amateur, the oldest golf championship in the country.

The best amateurs in the world will try to add their names to the illustrious list of champions when the event comes to Washington for only the second time since its inception in 1895.

It was held in 1952 at the Seattle Golf Club. That title match featured two state golfers, with future congressman Jack Westland defeating Al Mengert 3 and 2.

This summer's tournament begins Aug. 23 with the first of two rounds of stroke play. Each golfer will play one round at Chambers Bay in University Place and one round at The Home Course in DuPont. The top 64 then advance to match-play rounds, all six at Chambers Bay.

"It's the premier amateur tournament in the country, and to look at the guys who have won that championship, a lot of them have gone on to have very successful professional careers," said Mark O'Meara, the 1979 champion who went on to win the 1998 Masters and British Open. "So it's a very special springboard, you might say."

It certainly was for Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins, who won the Amateur 40 years ago when it was held at Waverley Country Club in Portland. A major champion on the PGA Tour, he says the Amateur remains one of his career highlights.

Wadkins beat Tom Kite, a fellow Hall of Famer, by one stroke (the event was solely stroke play from 1965 to 1972).

"It's what every amateur should strive to win," said Wadkins, who follows the event each year. "It was huge for me. I was in college and I had won everything there was to win in amateur golf, so for me to win that really capped my amateur career. You look at the names that have won that tournament, and a lot of them are still playing today. I am very proud to have won it."

Wadkins said while there is a lot of pressure during the event, "one of the hardest things is just qualifying for the darn thing."

Sectional qualifying tournaments are 36 holes and will be in late July and early August. Those who advance join a 312-player field.

Foreigners have won five of the past seven years, including last year when South Korea's An Byeong-Hun triumphed. The winning Americans in that span were Colt Knost in 2007 and Ryan Moore of Puyallup in 2004.

Moore, this year's honorary chairman, said winning the event was one of the highlights of his career, and "it's great to have it here."

For the winner, it's something to remember for a lifetime.

"Life is made up of memories, and that's a wonderful memory," Champions Tour player Bruce Fleisher said of his win 42 years ago. "They still introduce me as the 1968 U.S. Amateur champion. Sometimes it hurts because it was so long ago, but it's going to be etched forever. It's something that nobody can ever take away."

Fleisher said he has no trouble remembering all the details of his win.

"The last three holes, I can remember it like it was yesterday," Fleisher said. "I knew what I had to do, and how much fun it was after I did it."

O'Meara beat the defending champion, John Cook, in the championship match in 1979. They are now top players on the Champions Tour.

'There was a tremendous amount of pressure on me, but there is pressure trying to win every event, whether it's the regular tour, the Champions Tour or an amateur event," O'Meara said. "Pressure is part of the game."

Handling that pressure is key, and getting a few breaks along the way certainly helps as well.

"It's one of the hardest tournaments to win," O'Meara said. "There's a lot of skill that comes into play, but there's also a lot of luck that goes into it. You can shoot 67 or 68 and still lose a match, or shoot 73 or 74 and win. You have to have that match-play mentality to just hang in there."