Trip Kuehne says he’s never watched the replay of his 36-hole showdown with Tiger Woods in the finals of the 1994 U.S. Amateur. He doesn’t need to. He can still recall the details of the day, including the nap he took in the locker room between rounds.
At TPC Sawgrass, with his father on his bag, Kuehne made seven birdies in his first 13 holes to go 6 up on Woods. Then Woods did to him what he’d do to so many others. He rallied to win the match, the first of his three straight U.S. Amateur titles.
Woods was 18 at the time. Kuehne was 22. Despite the age difference, they knew each other well. Woods and his father, Earl, sometimes stayed with the Kuehnes when traveling to tournaments, and Woods once carried Kuehne’s bag as a teammate in the Canon Cup, a prestigious amateur event now called the Wyndham Cup.
“I was probably the only person in the world he caddied for,” Kuehne told GOLF’s Subpar podcast co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz.
After that match, the two men’s paths diverged. Woods went on to become . . . well, you know. Kuehne stayed amateur, built a career in finance, played on three U.S. Walker Cup teams and earned a start in the 2008 Masters by winning the 2007 U.S. Mid-Am at Bandon Dunes.
Kuehne has no regrets, but he’ll admit to three mistakes against Woods. The snooze was one. He was so relaxed that he dozed off in the locker room after the morning round and came out flat for the afternoon. An exchange with his father also led to a key mis-clubbing and a bogey that helped bring Woods back into the match. Kuehne’s third goof, by his account, was a poorly played layup on the par-5 9th hole that left him in the bunker. Another bogey. Footage of that shot and many others live on in the ether.
Not that Kuehne has ever seen it, except in his mind’s eye.
To hear Kuehne’s account of the match, the nap and more, you can check out the entire episode here.
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