July 28, 2003

Surrounded by some of the premier amateur golfers, Navy rising senior Billy Hurley (Leesburg, Va.) finished the four-day, 72-hole Porter Cup tied for seventh place. Just six shots separated him from tournament winner Casey Wittenberg, the 2001 AJGA Player of the Year who will be attending Oklahoma State this fall.

Never out of the top 10, Hurley had slipped from seventh to ninth after the second day, but in round three he bounced back and maintained that position in the final round.

Fatigue appeared to set in during the final round of play, as many of the leaders were unable to match their early-round sub-70 scores. Such was the case for Vanderbilt's Brandt Snedeker who led the first-three rounds before a disastrous 5-over par 75 in the final round sent him plummeting to fourth place.

Two-time First-Team All-American Bill Haas turned in a Porter Cup-low round of 60 in the second round and jumped to second, however, his 72 and 73 on the final-two holes dropped him to a tie for fifth by tournament's end.

The 45th Annual Porter Cup featured some of the premier amateur golfers in the country with 26 of the top-32 players as ranked by Golfweek/Titleist participating in the 72-hole medal-play event.

Through the years, many of the greats of today have participated in the Porter Cup. PGA stars such as Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Hal Sutton and Justin Leonard have competed, while Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Scott Verplank have won the title.