Aug. 25, 2006

CHASKA, Minn. - TCU golfer Jon McLean's run through the 106th U.S. Amateur Championship was halted in the third round at historic Hazeltine National Golf Club by Missouri senior John Kelly. McLean, who was 2 up through 11 on Friday morning, lost four straight holes to fall short in his bid to become the first Horned Frog ever to advance to the Amateur's quarterfinals.

After losses by virtue of bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13, McLean bounced back with a par on the 14th hole. However, Kelly made birdie to take a 1 up lead, putting McLean on the short end of the score for the first time in his three matches. Amazingly, the 20-year-old led or was tied over his first 43 holes of match play. After another bogey by McLean on No. 15 gave his opponent a two-hole advantage, the duo halved the remaining two holes to give Kelly the win.

McLean, who led the Horned Frogs in scoring average in 2005-06, easily defeated University of New Mexico junior Jon Sauer 7 and 5 during Wednesday's first round and dropped the nation's fifth-ranked amateur, Dustin Johnson, by a 2 and 1 count on Thursday. In doing so, the Weston, Fla., product became just the fourth golfer in school history, joining All-Americans J.J. Henry, Adam Rubinson and J.J. Killeen, to advance as far as the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur.

Established in 1895, the Amateur Championship is the oldest golf championship in this country. Previous winners of the prestigious tournament include: Bobby Jones (5 times), Tiger Woods (3 times), Jack Nicklaus (2 times), Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson.

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