Aug. 14, 2005

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - Cleveland State senior golfer Steve Weir shot a final round 65 on Sunday to win the 2005 Greater Cleveland Amateur Championship. The Brunswick native opened the day trailing Dan Rush by four strokes, but his 54-hole total of -4 (209) proved to be four shots better than both Rush and Mike Grasso.

"I really wanted this one," Weir said. "My confidence has grown with every tournament this summer and in my mind I felt I had to shoot a 66 or 67 to have a chance of winning today. Fortunately, I was able to do one shot better.

"I really kept the bad numbers off of the card today. In the first two rounds I made a lot of birdies, but erased those with some bad holes. Today I was able to eliminate the bogeys."

Weir opened play on Friday (Aug. 12) with a 75 at the par 71, 6,702 yard Sleepy Hollow Golf Course in Brecksville, but fought back into contention with a 69 on Saturday.

A solid three-under 32 on the front nine moved Weir squarely into the hunt for the title on Sunday. He started the back with his first bogey of the day, but after a pair of pars and trailing by two shots, he quickly heated up.

Weir hit a wedge to five feet on the par four 13th hole and converted the birdie putt, then followed with a tap-in birdie on the par five 14th to get to two-under for the championship. After another short birdie putt, he closed out the birdie run with a 40-foot bomb on 16. He finished out the round of six-under with a pair of routine pars.

"With all of my tournament experience, it's nice to not be nervous on the first tee any more," Weir noted. "I think I was actually able put some pressure on the leaders by going so low."

Weir, who a month ago advanced to the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, will attempt to gain a berth in the 2005 Cleveland Open through the Monday qualifier on Aug. 22. The Nationwide Tour stop will take place on Aug. 25-28 at Stonewater Golf Club in Highland Heights.