CLEMSON, SC – Clemson junior Corbin Mills made a four-foot par putt on the 37th hole to defeat Derek Ernst of Clovis, CA and the UNLV golf team to win the United States Public Links Championship at the Old Macdonald Course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, OR.

Mills won the 36-hole stroke play qualifier, then won six matches to capture the championship. He is the first golfer to win both the stroke play qualifier and the match play championship in the same year since 2000 when former Clemson golfer D.J. Trahan did it. Trahan also won the championship match in 37 holes that year, as he defeated Bubba Dickerson. Trahan’s championship was also recorded in Oregon (Portland). Overall, Mills is just the seventh player to win both the stroke play and the match play in the same year.

Mills is the third Clemson golfer to win the US Public Links. In addition to Trahan’s win in 2000, Kevin Johnson won the title in 1987. Ironically, Johnson lost the event in a 37 hole final the next year (1988). So four times a Clemson golfer has reached the championship match and it has been decided in 37 holes three times.

Mills victory brings with it a 10-year exemption to the United States Public Links Tournament, a two-year exemption into the field at the US Amateur, and a probable an invitation to the 2012 Masters.

“This was a big victory for Corbin,” said Clemson head Coach Larry Penley. “He had it in him. The biggest thing he did was improve his putting. He really improved his pace (in putting). That should give him confidence and our entire team confidence.

“To see him hang in there after losing five straight holes on the second 18 and lose the lead was impressive. He could have hung his head and packed it in. But he didn’t and he got the momentum back when he made that birdie on the 15th hole to tie the match. I am very proud of him.” Mills was dominant in the event in many ways. He was the only golfer to shoot under par for the 3- hole stroke play qualifier on Monday and Tuesday with a three under par 138 score. In winning his six matches, he trailed for just seven of the 117 holes of match play and never trailed by more than one hole the entire week. He went 74 consecutive holes of match play without trailing at one point.

Mills won three of the first four holes on Saturday against Ernst, including the third and fourth holes with birdies. He won three of the final four holes of the first 18, including a birdie three on the 18th hole. Mills had a two-up lead when the players broke for lunch after 18 holes.

Mills increased his lead to four up after the 24th hole of the match and still had the four-up lead after the 26th hole. But, Ernst, the Mountain West Player of the Year the last two years, won five consecutive holes (9-13 on the second 18) to take a one-up lead. He hit his tee shot on the par three 242-yard 12th hole to within four inches, then hit his approach to two feet on the par four 13th.

When Ernst made the birdie on 13 it was the first time Mills had trailed in a match since the second hole of his Sweet 16 match with Talor Gooch, 74 holes earlier.

The two players halved the 14th hole, then Mills got some momentum back when he made a 20-foot birdie putt to win the par five 15th hole. Ernst won the 16th hole when Mills missed a six-foot par putt, but Mills squared the match on the 17th hole, the 35th hole of the match when Ernst hit the ball into a bunker on three consecutive shots. The two players halved the 36th hole.

Holes 14-18 were good to Mills all week. He won 14 holes and lost just four all week on those final five holes, including a 5-2 record against Ernst on Saturday.

Both players hit solid drives in the fairway on the 37th hole of the match, the first hole on the course. But Ernst hit his second shot short, leaving an 80-foot putt. He three-putted from that distance and Mills two putted from 40 feet to win the tournament.

It was quite a week for Mills who won the tournament despite an ear infection and “pink eye”.

“The birdie on 15 was big,” said Mills, who was playing in his first ever match play tournament. “That seemed to give me some momentum. I lost the 16th hole, but I made a good chip to have a chance at a par and then won the 17th hole. So, I got my confidence back.

“This was quite a week. The overall key was that I didn’t get ahead of myself. I just took it one match at a time, one hole at a time. I played within myself. I won a lot of holes with pars, including the deciding hole.”

Mills Match to the US Public Links Championship d. Greg O’Connor of Kennesaw State, 4 & 2 d. John Peterson of LSU, 1 up d. Talor Gooch of Oklahoma State, 4 & 2 d. John Vijarro of Oregon, 4 & 3 d. Harris English of Georgia, 5 & 3 d. Derek Ernst of UNLV, 37 holes

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