Oakmont, Pa. ? He is an anomaly in a sport increasingly motivated by the drive for the PGA dollar, a world-class golfer who plays for championships and not cash.

At 31, Trip Kuehne is almost a senior citizen compared to the college and high school golfers who chase most of amateur golf’s major titles. Of the eight U.S. Walker Cup members chosen to date, every one is at least eight years younger than the Dallas-based brokerage firm vice president.

Starting today, it will be the kids at the U.S. Amateur who will be chasing Kuehne, not the other way around.

Kuehne tied for second among the 64 match-play qualifiers by following up his first-round 69 at the Pittsburgh Field Club a day earlier with a solid, even-par 70 Tuesday at historic Oakmont Country Club. The only better qualifying score was University of Kentucky star John Holmes’ 2-under 138, which included a 2-under 68 Tuesday at the Field Club.

Billy Hurley of Leesburg, Va., shot a 65 Tuesday at the Field Club to join Kuehne at 139, eight strokes better than the cut line of 7-over 147. Fourteen golfers tied at 147 for 12 available spots, so two will be eliminated in a playoff Wednesday morning before the first of the 32 matches begin.

Some notable names missing the cut were two 2002 quarterfinalists, Henry Liaw (152) and Dustin Bray (151), and Walker Cup members Matt Hendrix (148) and Chris Nallen (148).

There was no drama either day for Kuehne, who is asked almost daily why one of the biggest hitters in golf, pro or amateur, plays not for big dollars, but personal satisfaction.

The answer is the U.S. Amateur.

“There’s no doubt about it, the one more thing for me to win is a USGA championship — then, it’s a great career,” Kuehne said Tuesday. “Until I do that, I can’t be satisfied. The younger guys out here are getting better and better.”

A decade ago, he was one of those confident, can’t-beat-me kids. At age 22, he was 6 up over Tiger Woods through 13 holes of their 36-hole U.S. Amateur final in 1994 at Sawgrass, only to lose 2 up.

If he had won, he undoubtedly would have turned pro. Once he didn’t, he became his generation’s version of Jay Sigel, the 1982 and 1983 U.S. Amateur champion who didn’t become a pro until joining the Senior PGA Tour at age 50. Namely, a golfer whose other life pursuits — work and family — became more important than pro golf.

Kuehne admittedly got by on pure talent for years; he is the brother of Hank Kuehne, the 1998 U.S. Amateur champion who plays on the PGA Tour, and Kelli Kuehne, the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion in 1995 and 1996, who plays on the LPGA Tour.

He began to refocus on his game three years ago, after he decided he wanted his infant son Will to see him play at a high level in person, not just on a grainy, years-old videotape.

“I dedicated myself to golf,” he said. “I practice two hours a day and I’ve spent more time on my putting in the last two years than I did in the previous 20.”