Junior Open leaders struggle at windy Hesketh

Championship - 14 Jul, 2008

The west wind blew Japan's Mami Fukuda out of the overall lead on the second day of The R&A Junior Open at Hesketh Golf Club, Southport

Mami, bidding to become the first girl ever to beat the boys and win the Junior Open, struggled during the second round of the 54-hole event. She followed her opening two-under-par 70 with an 80 which cost her the lead in both the overall and the girls' categories. Though Mami speaks very little English, her sign language was up to the task of describing her difficulty playing in the strong wind that whipped across Hesketh yesterday.

Given that almost all the scores were rising, Mami doing well at one over par after five holes, having birdied the third and bogeyed the first and fifth, but in an eight-hole stretch from the seventh to the 14th she had a double bogey and five bogeys. She managed to par her way through the tough finishing stretch, but the damage had been done, and Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn is now three shots clear in the girls' event with 72-75 for a total of 147.

Even American Jordan Spieth from Dallas, well used to playing in high winds in Texas, did not feel in command as he returned a four-over-par 76 - four more than he needed on Monday - for a 36-hole total of 148.

"I'm not blaming the wind," said 14-year-old Jordan, who plays off +4. "It was the putting that killed me today. I just can't read the greens over here in England!"

Steven Lam, a 15-year-old scratch golfer from Hong Kong, took up the running with his second consecutive round of 73 for a 36-hole total of 146.

"I don't mind a wind like this," said Steven. "I play over two courses back home. One is by the sea and the other is on the top of a mountain so you can imagine how windy that can be." He who was four over par after six holes but retrieved the situation with birdies at the eighth, 11th, 16th and 17th.

In third place is Scotland's Paul McPhee from the King James VI Golf Club. McPhee matched Lam's 73 as the best of the day thanks to late birdies at the 14th and 17th - and despite a missed chance from 12ft at the last - after bogeying the fifth, sixth and 13th.

"I was not playing particularly well but I like to think that I battled well," said McPhee, who led the recent McGregor Trophy boys' tournament at the halfway stage. This time he has to come from behind to win.

England's Harry Whittle had a 75 for a 36-hole tally of 151 that could easily have been better: Harry made bogeys at four of the first five holes today before he settled in by birdieing the long seventh. He then covered the remaining holes in par, his bogey at the 10th being cancelled out by a birdie at the 12th.


R&A JUNIOR OPEN
Hesketh Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire

GOLD DIVISION
(handicaps of 3 and under)

Second round totals

Boys

146 Steven Lam (Hong Kong) 73 73

148 Jordan Spieth (USA) 72 76

149 Paul McPhee (Scotland) 76 73

150 Meen-Whee Kim (Korea) 72 78

151 Harry Whittle (England) 76 75, Robert De Biase (Venezuela) 73 78

152 Matias Dominguez (Chile) 73 79

153 Scott Vincent (Zimbabwe) 74 79, Frederik Hammer (Denmark) 76 77

155 Kentaro Toyota (Japan) 78 77, D Murphy (Ireland) 78 77

156 Sam Dix (Wales) 75 81

157 Joaquin Lolas (Peru) 83 74

159 Tanapol Vattanapisit (Thailand) 78 81, Peter Valasek (Slovakia) 76 83

160 Cyril Suk (Czech Rep) 81 79

163 Andy Yang (Canada) 79 84

165 Daniel Ocampo (Colombia) 85 80, Sebastian Schwind (Germany) 80 85

166 Asaf Cohen (Israel) 82 84

167 Shehzad Hafiz (Cayman Islands) 81 86

168 Dayne Moore (Zambia) 87 81

169 Thomas Boffejon (Switzerland) 86 83

170 Miguel Meyer (South Africa) 80 90

171 Filippo Zucchetti (Italy) 82 89

173 Glen De Waal (Namibia) 80 93

174 Juan Miguel Heredia (Ecuador) 83 91

176 Carlos Solis (Mexico) 86 90, Thomas Mantovanini (Brazil) 85 91

187 Subhy Hakim (Lebananon) 82 105



Girls

147 Moriya Jutanugarn (Thailand) 72 75

150 Mami Fukuda (Japan) 70 80

154 Laetitia Beck (Israel) 75 79

156 Daniela Ortiz (Mexico) 76 80

157 Kristen Park (USA) 75 82

158 Federica Maria Costantini (Italy) 76 82, Jisoo Keel (Canada) 79 79, Katharina Soehnlein (Germany) 76 82

159 Laverry Kumar (India) 80 79

160 Connie Chen (South Africa) 85 75

162 Johanne Svendsen (Denmark) 78 84

163 Manuela Carbajo Re (Argentina) 80 83

164 Katja Pogacar (Slovenia) 83 81

166 Hannah Marie Tujrland (England) 85 81

175 Maria Yacaman (Colombia) 73 82

178 Stephanie Ho (Hong Kong) 81 97




SILVER DIVISION
(handicaps 4 to 9 - 36 holes only)

Final totals

Boys

157 Mando Iwanaga (Guam) 75 82

160 Manfred Reiche (Costa Rica) 74 86, Chung-Hsin Wang (Taipei) 78 82

163 Raphael Higuet (Belgium) 81 82, Bjarki Petursson (Iceland) 81 82

164 Adrian Rios (Panama) 79 85

168 Ivan Butler (Bahamas) 82 86

169 Grzegorz Zielinski (Poland) 83 86

170 John Vereist-Micallef (Malta) 92 78, Khaled Attieh(Saudi Arabia) 83 87

172 Jonathon Newn ham (Jamaica) 83 89, Jay Kumar Patel (Kenya) 84 88

174 Hussein Mahfouz (Egypt) 87 87

175 Amaury Castro (Flanders) 83 90

177 Aljaz Brumen (Slovenia) 89 88

179 Liang Zheng (China) 84 95

182 Jeham Al Kuwari (Qatar) 92 90

185 Thomas Lolas (Peru) 96 89

186 Morris Ntege (Uganda) 94 92

192 Jabulane Mabasco (Swaziland) 97 95


Girls

152 Laura Christiaens (Belgium) 73 79

153 Annabel Niven (Scotland) 78 75

163 Amanda Chin (Malaysia) 80 83, Katerina Krasova (Czech Rep) 77 86

166 Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir (Iceland) 81 85

167 Eliza Vilde (Latvia) 84 83, Lil Kuuli (Estonia) 82 85

172 Emma Davies (Wales) 82 90

175 Carina Cuculiza (Nicaragua) 87 88

177 Camille Richelle (Flanders) 87 90

179 Maryke Short (Namibia) 86 93

200 Christina Laoludikou (Greece) 101 99



BRONZE DIVISION
(handicaps 10 to 21 - 36 holes only)

Final totals

Boys

160 Ignacio Rodriquez (Spain) 80 80

180 Jeremy Abel (Luxembourg) 96 84, Ali Hichri (Tunisia) 91 89

182 Egeti Liiv (Estonia) 92 90

184 Roberto Vassalli (Nicaragua) 100 84, Ahmed Elmodi (Libya) 95 89, Mark Saunders (Malawi) 84 100

190 Miguel Angel Jimenez junior (Spain) 95 95

191 Enrique Walsh (El Salvador) 99 92

192 Matthew Smith (Botswana) 89 103

200 Roberts Vanags (Latvia) 96 104


Girls

166 Huang Zhiying (China) 85 81

167 Hwa-Sing Wang (Taipei) 88 79

175 Daryl Conroy (Ireland) 84 91

176 Rachel Chebukati (Kenya) 87 89

178 Vittoria Marley (Jamaica) 87 91

179 Andrea Novoa (El Salvador) 91 88

180 Kayela Mulenga (Zambia) 89 91

182 Maleena Awn (Sri Lanka) 82 100

183 Tajbin Sarker (Bangladesh) 93 90

184 Ana Paula Costa (Brazil) 90 94

190 Ouname M