SAMMAMISH, Wash. (july 3, 2008)--Trent Whitekiller of Sallisaw, OK won the weather shortened 2008 Sahalee Players Championship this afternoon. Championship officials had to make the difficult decision to cancel the final round this morning after the heavy rains and lightning of yesterday evening continued into the morning.

Players were finally able to get back on the course for the final nine holes of the 3rd round at 12:15 p.m. as the clouds finally broke. Whitekiller, starting on his 12th hole, used a birdie, a bogey, and five pars on his final seven holes to fire an impressive 71 to follow up his 2nd round 67. His 54-hole total of 6-under par 210 gave him a two stroke victory over USC’s Matthew Giles. Giles used five birdies over his final 9-holes to creep up the leaderboard and take sole possession of 2nd place.

Giles was the only player in the field to shoot under par in every round of the championship. One stroke back of Giles and finishing in third was UCLA’s Erik Flores. Flores was consistent all week and his final round 71 featured one birdie and 17 pars.

Whitekiller will be a junior this fall at Oklahoma St. University and finished tied for 7th at the 2008 NCAA National Championship. He was also the champion of the 2007 Oklahoma Amateur. This is Whitekiller’s first major national amateur victory.

The Sahalee Players Championship has become one of the nations’ elite Amateur Championships. Played at the renowned Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, WA, the club has challenged the world’s best golfers, hosting the 1998 PGA Championship and the 2002 World Golf Championship – NEC Invitational, and soon the site of the 2010 U.S. Senior Open. The Sahalee Players Championship features an impressive list of past champions that includes Daniel Summerhays, Kyle Stanley, Ryan Moore, Arron Oberholser, Casey Martin and Jason Gore. This year’s championship will be contested over 72 holes of stroke play.

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