THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Sang Yi of Carrollton, Texas, posted a 3-under-par 69 and a three-day total of 4-under-par 212 to come from behind and win the PING Junior at The Woodlands Sunday by three strokes. In the Girls Division, Jane Rah of Torrance, Calif., carded a final-round 75 for a three-day total of 1-over-par 217 to hold on for a three-shot victory at The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center’s Panther Trail Course.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the PING Junior at The Woodlands was a 54-hole stroke play event held at The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center’s Panther Trail Course. The 126-player field featured players from 20 states, Washington D.C., and three countries, Australia, Canada and Chile. The Girls Division is playing the Panther Trail Course at 5,996 yards, while the Boys Division is playing it at 6,959 yards.
Yi sank an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole to go 2-under-par on the front nine and followed with a 1-under-par 35 on the back nine to wrap up his comeback win.
“I started out well, but I didn’t play that great on the back nine. I started spraying my drives and I did get lucky several times because I ended up having a shot each time,” said Yi, who claimed his first-ever career victory. “My putting and short game was great today; I made a lot of key putts. It’s my first win, so I’m very excited for sure.”
Yi finished in front by three strokes over Kelly Kraft of Denton, Texas, who posted a 1-under-par 215 tournament total for second. Hunter Hamrick of Montgomery, Ala., took third place with an even-par 216, while four players, Cody Gribble of Dallas, John Peterson of Fort Worth, Texas, Geoffrey Shaw of Edmond, Okla., and Conrad Shindler of Westlake, Texas, finished in a tie for fourth at 217.
Yi’s next big event is his local high school district tournament in the coming month.
In the Girls Division, Rah was 3-over-par after just three holes, but recovered by playing her final 15 holes at even-par.
“I’m excited to win, but I’m also sad because I didn’t play as well as I wanted to,” said Rah, a two-time Rolex Junior All-American . “I was so fortunate to have a six-stroke lead going into today. Nothing really worked today and everything went bad, but the main thing was I found a way to hold on.”
Rah finished three shots ahead of Brianna Do of Lakewood, Calif., who seized second with a final-round 72 and a three-day total of 220. Lisa McCloskey of Montgomery, Texas, claimed the third spot with a tournament total of 223 after a 75 on the last day.
Now a four-time AJGA champion, Rah returns to action at the Thunderbird International Junior at Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Ariz., May 25-28.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 25 foreign countries.
PING, a long-time supporter of junior golf, will support four AJGA events in 2007, two Open Events and two Invitationals: the PING Junior at The Woodlands, PING Phoenix Junior, PING Junior Solheim Cup and The PING Invitational. PING also sponsors the PING Schedule Magnet and PING College Golf Signing Day Web site.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel.
For more information on the PING Junior at The Woodlands, please contact AJGA National Headquarters at (770) 868-4200 or visit the AJGA Web site at ajga.org.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Final results from the PING Junior at The Woodlands conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at
The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center - Panther Trail Course. Par: Boys: 36-36—72; Girls: 36-36—72. Yardage: Boys: 6,957; Girls:
5,996. Rating/Slope: Boys: 73.2/129; Girls: 71.4/122.
BOYS DIVISION
Sang Yi, Carrollton, Texas 69-74-69—212
Kelly Kraft, Denton, Texas 74-69-72—215
Hunter Hamrick, Montgomery, Ala. 70-74-72—216
Geoffrey Shaw, Edmond, Okla. 71-71-75—217
John Peterson, Fort Worth, Texas 67-77-73—217
Conrad Shindler, Westlake, Texas 74-72-71—217
Cody Gribble, Dallas, Texas 74-73-70—217
Travis Klutts, Lake Kiowa, Texas 70-77-71—218
Alex Moon, Dallas, Texas 73-74-72—219
Cory Whitsett, Houston, Texas 80-71-68—219
Tom Lo, Los Angeles, Calif. 71-75-74—220
Alexander Sitompul, Bradenton, Fla. 71-80-69—220
Patrick Reed, Baton Rouge, La. 72-72-77—221
Christopher Miller, Washington, D.C. 75-76-71—222
Dong Su, Richmond, British Columbia 72-72-79—223
Aaron Fitzpatrick, Orlando, Fla. 71-78-74—223
Lawrence Hsu, West Covina, Calif. 74-75-74—223
Jonathan Randolph, Brandon, Miss. 69-79-75—223
Morgan Hoffmann, Saddlebrook, N.J. 76-74-74—224
Blake Redmond, Sugar Land, Texas 75-76-73—224
Bennett Klaus, Edmond, Okla. 75-74-75—224
Mu Hu, Shen Zhen, China 73-79-74—226
Jordan Russell, College Station, Texas 75-76-75—226
Broc Raymond, The Woodlands, Texas 74-78-74—226
Brooks Bankhead, McKinney, Texas 75-78-73—226
DJ Schultz, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. 74-77-75—226
Ross Mizell, The Woodlands, Texas 73-79-75—227
Ryan Haselden, Houston, Texas 76-75-76—227
Jeff Campbell, Conway, Ark. 76-78-73—227
William Sjaichudin, Carindale Qld, Australia 75-73-79—227
Adam Wennerstrom, Austin, Texas 80-75-72—227
Mark Pollak, San Antonio, Texas 76-77-75—228
Ravi Patel, Naperville, Ill. 80-75-73—228
Josh Jones, The Colony, Texas 74-83-71—228
Tommy Chung Hao Mou, Bradenton, Fla. 78-74-76—228
Christopher Cho, Kent, Wash. 70-81-77—228
Sebastian MacLean, Bradenton, Fla. 69-82-77—228
William Kropp, Edmond, Okla. 80-76-73—229
Rick Huijsman, Bradenton, Fla. 72-81-76—229
James Back, Brea, Calif. 75-80-74—229
Dustin Rhone, Culver City, Calif. 80-77-72—229
Cameron Hollek, Richmond, Texas 77-79-74—230
Michael Whitehead, Sugar Land, Texas 75-81-74—230
Sumin Yu, Plano , Texas 73-84-73—230
Christopher Walker, The Woodlands, Texas 73-79-78—230
Peter Uihlein, Bradenton, Fla. 73-83-75—231
Devin Patel, Celebration, Fla. 73-79-79—231
Sean Dale, Jacksonville, Fla. 73-80-78—231
Johnathan Schnitzer, Houston, Texas 76-78-77—231
Benjamin Thorseth, Richmond, Texas 77-78-76—231
Cameron Peck, Olympia, Wash. 80-77-74—231
Robert Robertson, Philadelphia, Pa. 72-81-79—232
Ryan Kelley, The Woodlands, Texas 76-81-75—232
Riley Pumphrey, Georgetown, Texas 77-76-80—233
Eric Lodge, Houston, Texas 80-77-76—233
Ren Han, Richmond, British Columbia 74-82-78—234
Chris Causey, The Woodlands, Texas 78-81-76—235
Kevin Foley, The Woodlands, Texas 72-84-79—235
Scott Kelly, Kingwood, Texas 80-77-79—236
Michael Hebert, Orlando, Fla. 77-78-81—236
Malloy Moulis, Lafayette, La. 77-81-78—236
Derek Chang, Alpharetta, Ga. 78-84-74—236
Brad Beeson, Aledo, Texas 83-73-81—237
Paul Park, Wayne, N.J. 80-81-76—237
Brandon Burke, Houston, Texas 74-79-85—238
Darren Saqui, Cerritos, Calif. 78-83-77—238
Bobby Fox, Spring, Texas 82-83-73—238
Zeyu He, Reunion, Fla. 78-84-76—238
Thomas Tatum, Dallas, Texas 81-79-78—238
Nicko Dodd, Sugar Land, Texas 77-83-79—239
Ryan Smith, Ardmore, Okla. 84-80-75—239
Gene Yang, East Brunswick, N.J. 75-86-78—239
Max Do, Lakewood, Calif. 81-79-80—240
Jackson Beindorf, Vero Beach, Fla. 76-86-80—242
Travis Stewart, The Woodlands, Texas 82-79-83—244
Drew Evans, Dallas, Texas 83-78-83—244
Trey Kaahanui, Tempe, Ariz. 74-90-80—244
Jordan Rumora, Houston, Texas 86-78-81—245
Luis Lemus, Mission, Texas 88-86-78—252
Brett Spencer, Plano, Texas 79-91-83—253
Bradley Lucas, Worthington, Ohio 87-94-74—255
Jacob Simon, Oklahoma City, Okla. 88-89-81—258
Alberto Belan, Santiago, Chile 88-91-86—265
Patrick O'Meara, The Woodlands, Texas 81-95-91—267
Adam Sumrall, South Bend, Ind. 77-86 JWD
Philip Krebsbach, San Antonio, Texas 84 DQ - Rule 6-3a (NS)
Darren Chapman, Destin, Fla. JWD
GIRLS DIVISION
Jane Rah, Torrance, Calif. 69-73-75—217
Brianna Do, Lakewood, Calif. 75-73-72—220
Lisa McCloskey, Montgomery, Texas 73-75-75—223
Tiffany Lua, Rowland Heights, Calif. 75-76-73—224
Jaclyn Sweeney, Bradenton, Fla. 73-79-73—225
Sydney Burlison, Salinas, Calif. 77-77-71—225
Jennifer Johnson, Carlsbad, Calif. 75-75-76—226
Natalie Sheary, West Hartford, Conn. 77-79-73—229
Jennifer Hirano, Pinole, Calif. 79-76-75—230
Mary Michael Maggio, Conway, Ark. 77-79-75—231
Veronica Valerio, Temecula, Calif. 78-75-79—232
Seo Hee Moon, Mukilteo, Wash. 82-77-74—233
Erynne Lee, Silverdale, Wash. 78-81-76—235
Grace Chung, Fullerton, Calif. 77-78-81—236
Caitlin Bliss, Katy, Texas 80-77-80—237
Lalita Patipaksiri, Cypress, Calif. 80-79-78—237
Allyson Ferguson, Houston, Texas 79-80-78—237
Amelia Lewis, Jacksonville, Fla. 78-81-79—238
Felicia Espericueta, Edinburg, Texas 75-84-79—238
Elyse Okada, Kahului, Hawaii 78-83-77—238
Becca Huffer, Denver, Colo. 79-80-79—238
Pamela Burneski, Surrey, British Columbia 77-90-72—239
Sarah Thead, Poway, Calif. 84-82-74—240
Kayley Kempton, Littleton, Colo. 83-80-78—241
Chelsey Cothran, Springdale, Ark. 80-82-79—241
Rebecca Song, Fullerton, Calif. 80-79-83—242
Eunice Yim, La Canada, Calif. 81-84-77—242
Lila Barton, Dallas, Texas 80-82-80—242
Louisa Shu, West Bloomfield, Mich. 78-83-81—242
Kyndall Ardoin, Gibsland, La. 79-77-87—243
Cara Freeman, San Juan Capistrano, Calif. 84-81-79—244
Emily Childs, Alameda, Calif. 83-81-80—244
Grace Na, Oakland, Calif. 86-82-78—246
Haley Sanders, Rogers, Ark. 77-86-83—246
Kalynd Carson, The Woodlands, Texas 80-84-84—248
Sara Jones, The Colony, Texas 79-85-85—249
Kirsten Spittler, Austin, Texas 84-84-82—250
Brianna Coopman, Georgetown, Texas 83-84-84—251
Paige Martin, Ardmore, Okla. 79-93-80—252
Mary-Michael Burns, Baton Rouge, La. 86-85-82—253
Sara Hemingway, Kingwood, Texas 79-86-89—254
Stephanie Hwang, Heath, Texas 81-91-92—264
Stephanie Smith, The Woodlands, Texas 76-88 JWD
Victoria Arena, Lansdale, Pa. 84 JWD
Christine Cho, La Crescenta, Calif. 80-80 JWD
** NS=No Show
** JWD=Justified WD
