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AJGA
Summer Season Starts with Three Exciting Invitationals |
Burgoon,
Woltman capture boys' titles; Pressel continues magical run
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The
AJGA’s summer schedule started with a bang at three Invitational
events, the Thunderbird International Junior, FootJoy Boys Invitational
and Rolex Girls Junior Championship. Excellent play and thrilling
finishes were the norm as three junior golfers laid claim to
some of the AJGA’s most prestigious tournament titles.
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| Bronson
Burgoon came back from six shots behind during the final
round to claim his first AJGA Invitational title at the
Thunderbird International Junior |
Once
again held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., the Thunderbird
International Junior brought together 50 Rolex Junior All-Americans
from 16 states and 12 foreign countries.
The 2005 edition of the event was an exciting one that will
not soon be forgotten. Bronson Burgoon of The Woodlands, Texas,
who had already captured a win over Easter Weekend at the PING
Junior at The Woodlands, pulled out a hard-fought victory by
carding a final-round 4-under-par 68, bringing his tournament
total to 206. Burgoon clinched his victory on the first hole
of a sudden-death playoff with second-round leader Jamie Lovemark
of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
“I'm really lost for words,” Burgoon said. “I
thought there was an outside chance I would be able to contend
today, but I really didn't think I was actually going to win;
especially with how well Jamie (Lovemark) was playing.”
Lovemark made birdie on the 54th hole to force the playoff by
reaching the 521-yard, par-5 18th hole in two and holing out
in two putts.
Burgoon, who will be attending Texas A & M in the fall,
knew he had to do something special to come away with a victory.
The Aggie-to-be did do something special by booming a 340-yard
drive down the middle of the fairway on the par-5 18th.
“That was the biggest drive of my life,” Burgoon
remarked. “I wanted to make birdie, but I'll obviously
settle for par and the win.”
In the Girls Division, Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton, Fla., added
to her ever-growing list of Invitational victories by coming
back from one stroke down entering the final round.
“In my opinion, it's the best international tournament
in the world with the strongest field. To come out on top after
such a long week, it means a lot,” Pressel said.
Pressel began the day one stroke back of eventual runner-up
Azahara Munoz of San Pedro de Alcantara, Spain. But the 17-year-old
from Boca Raton, Fla., quickly found herself four strokes back
of Munoz after just four holes.
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| With
her win at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, Morgan
Pressel captured her fourth invitational title in the
past year. |
“It got away from me a bit, but I told myself to stay
patient and it would come,” Pressel said. “I got
a little momentum back with the three straight birdies but I
followed that up by missing a two-footer.”
A stretch of three straight birdies by Pressel and a bogey by
Munoz pulled the duo together at 8-under-par. Pressel played
steady golf on the back nine to pull away from Munoz and seal
the victory.
Pressel’s impressive run didn’t stop at Grayhawk.
The first-team Rolex Junior All-American captured her fourth
Invitational victory in the last 12 months at the Rolex Girls
Junior Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. She fired a final-round
69 amidst four hours of rain delays to capture her fourth invitational
victory with a tournament total of 67-73-69—209.
“I definitely came here and did what I intended to do,”
said Pressel, a four-time Rolex Junior All-American. “It
is such an honor to win at LPGA International—the home
of women's golf.”
Pressel's come-from-behind victory over Hsiao-Ching Lu of Taipei,
Taiwan, was propelled by three birdies in her second bogey-free
round of the tournament. In less than a year, Pressel has championed
four individual invitationals and one team invitational (Rolex
Tournament of Champions, July 2004; Canon Cup, Aug. 2004; Polo
Golf Junior Classic, Nov. 2004; Thunderbird International Junior,
May 2005; Rolex Girls Junior Championship, June 2005).
At the FootJoy Boys Invitational, Daniel Woltman of Beaver Dam,
Wis., won his first American Junior Golf Association event in
a sudden-death playoff against Roberto Galletti, Jr. of Clayton,
Calif. Woltman and Galletti, Jr. finished the FootJoy Boys Invitational
with scores of 10-under-par 278.
With a one-stroke lead heading into No. 18, Galletti, Jr. hit
his approach shot on the left fringe, leaving him in position
to two-putt for the win. Woltman finished with par, and prepared
to congratulate Galletti, Jr. However, Galletti, Jr. missed
the three-foot putt for par to win sending the two back to No.
18 tee for the sudden-death playoff.
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| Daniel
Woltman fought neck-and-neck with Roberto Galletti, Jr.
and finally came out on top in a sudden-death playoff. |
In
the playoff, Woltman hit his approach shot 25 feet from the
hole in nearly the exact place Galletti, Jr. had his chance
to win from during regulation. He two-putted for par while Galletti,
Jr. made bogey after hitting his tee shot into the face of a
fairway bunker.
“I paid attention to his first putt,” Woltman said.
“It just played out perfectly.”
Though Galletti, Jr. led for most of the tournament, the two
were tied for the lead at 10-under-par going into the final
round.
The momentum shifted in Woltman's favor on No. 15 when he walked
in a 35-foot putt from the fringe for eagle. Galletti, Jr.'s
bogey caused a three-shot swing to tie them at 11-under-par.
“We fought back and forth all day,” Woltman said.
“I'm just happy to be standing here right now, holding
the trophy.”
Woltman will be attending the University of Kentucky in the
fall. |
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