PARAMUS, N.J. - Amid morning rainstorms that caused a two and a half hour rain delay and the final to be shortened to 18 holes, David Kwon turned the rain into rainbows and captured the 98th Met Amateur Championship today at The Ridgewood Country Club, in Paramus, N.J.

When Kwon and Ken Macdonald found out that the usual 36-hole final would be shortened to 18-holes, they both realized a need to make the most of their opportunities and jump out to an early lead. When Macdonald birdied the first hole on Ridgewood's West Course, he signaled his readiness to win the one crown that had eluded the reigning New Jersey State Amateur champ and two-time defending Ike champion. But little did he know that this would be his only lead of the match. 

Never backing down from a challenge Kwon, the 20-year old junior to be at Cal State at Dominguez Hills, answered right back on the par-four second hole with a birdie of his own to pull the match right back to all square. The young Bergen County native picked up another hole on the par-three third after Macdonald failed to get up and down for his par and Kwon never looked back. 

After halving with pars on the par-five fourth, Kwon picked up another hole at the fifth hole after Macdonald failed to get up and down after a poor chip. Macdonald, the 23-year old from Upper Montclair, was able quickly get it back making a routine par three at the sixth. Again Kwon responded with a 9-iron to two feet on seven making a birdie three to get back to 2-up. A bad kick left Macdonald on the short side of the par-five 8th leaving him a near impossible up and down for his par. Kwon converted his two putts and walked to the ninth with a three up advantage. When Kwon's tee shot clipped a tree and left him almost 230 yards into the grueling par-four ninth, Macdonald calmed himself and made a two-putt par to narrow the lead to two with only nine to play. 

After the two matched birdies on the short par-four first hole on the East Course, it alerted the gallery that both were hungry for the nation’s second oldest amateur championship. The par-three second yielded two pars as the pair of talented New Jersey amateurs headed to the par-five third hole at Ridgewood.

Macdonald, hitting first, put the pressure on Kwon knocking his wedge to two feet and setting up a very probable birdie chance. David, who vowed to "stay aggressive throughout the match," did exactly that as his wedge shot nearly slam dunked the hole but unfortunately ended up 50-feet below the hole after an unfortunate head-on-collision with the pin. He casually two-putted for par and walked towards the next tee. What happened next seemed to set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Macdonald yipped his two-foot attempt and seemingly began to lose confidence in his usually reliable putting stroke. A three-putt bogey followed at four but was good enough to squeeze a half after Kwon was unable to get up and down for par. 

Kwon made his only real mistake of the day missing his chance at par on the fifth bringing Macdonald to only one-hole down. Kwon once again answered with a spectacular up and down par three at six and once again Macdonald's par attempt came up short. 

Macdonald tried to put the pressure on and make a birdie on the long par-four seventh only to blow his attempt well past and three putting and suddenly becoming dormie with only two to play. The par-four eighth proved to be the last as the both Macdonald and Kwon came up short with their birdie attempts after which Macdonald conceded the match to Kwon, winning 2 and 1.

It ended a memorable week for Kwon, as he became the first ever-dual winner of the MGA/MetLife Public Links and the Met Amateur in the same year.  Kwon, who admittedly wanted to face Macdonald in the finals, took advantage of the soft rain filled greens and "rode and emotional high all week" after qualifying for the event by a single stroke. "I wanted to play the best in order to win. Ken was the clear-cut favorite coming in this week and I am very fortunate to have beaten him," said the former Bergen County high school champion.

The newly crowned champ was all smiles afterwards and happy that he will now be exempt for the Met Open in two weeks at Mountain Ridge CC in West Caldwell, N.J. Although he would have preferred to play the traditional 36-hole final, he bashfully admitted "a win’s a win".