DALY CITY, Calif. — Ever since Colt Knost started to take golf seriously seven years ago, he's been focused on someday making a living at the sport he loves.

The stocky 22-year-old might want to wait a few months before he starts cashing those oversized paychecks. He'll have some remarkable opportunities next year after an outstanding summer as an amateur.

Knost is one step from a rare amateur double after beating Jhonattan Vegas 4 and 3 Saturday to advance to the finals of the U.S. Amateur Championship at The Olympic Club. He'll face Michael Thompson of the University of Alabama, who beat Casey Clendenon 3 and 2, in today's 36-hole final round.

With yet another day of steady play on the historic course just south of San Francisco, Knost is in position to be just the second player to follow a U.S. Public Links title with an Amateur championship in the same year. Ryan Moore, now a top-60 player on the PGA Tour, won the Amateur and the Publinx in 2004.

"That'd be great," said Knost, who played at SMU. "I'd like to hold one (trophy) in each hand. ... I've thought about it. People tell me all the time how Ryan Moore is the only guy that's done it in the same year. He's a great player, and I'd love to be up there with him."

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Both players earned spots in next year's Masters and U.S. Open fields with their semifinal wins — and Knost was already Augusta-bound after winning the Publinx.

But all this amateur success has complicated Knost's previous plans to turn pro after playing in the Walker Cup next month in Northern Ireland. Knost couldn't accept his automatic bids to the two majors if he turns pro beforehand, and no Amateur finalist has turned down a trip to the Masters in 15 years.

It's a wonderful dilemma for the personable Texan. Though Knost said he'll find it difficult to pass on the Masters, he can't imagine staying in the amateur ranks until the U.S. Open.

"I don't think I can delay turning pro any longer," Knost said. "I need some money. I need a job. I love golf more than anything. This is what I want to do. This is all I want to do."

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