New Zealand golfer Danny Lee became the US Amateur's youngest champion, supplanting Tiger Woods by holding off Drew Kittleson 5 and 4 on Sunday.

One month to the day after his 18th birthday, Lee frittered away most of a six-hole lead before regaining control with a string of birdies midway through his second trip around Pinehurst's No. 2 course in North Carolina. He capped his 11th consecutive day of competition by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th. Lee, who is six months and 29 days younger than Woods was when he won the first of his three Amateurs in 1994, joined 2005 US Open winner Michael Campbell as New Zealanders to claim championships at Donald Ross-designed No. 2, and became the fourth foreign-born Amateur champion in six years.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily August 26, 2008)