The
“West was Won” July 19-24 when Sihwan Kim of Fullerton,
Calif., and Julieta Granada of Paraguay, captured the titles
at the U.S. Junior Amateur in San Francisco and the U.S. Girls’
Junior in Fort Worth, Texas, respectively. Drawing the finest
juniors golfers from across the globe, the events are two
of the 13 national championships conducted by the United States
Golf Association.
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Julieta Granada |
Held at San Francisco’s Olympic Club, the U.S. Junior
Amateur saw Kim, an honorable-mention Rolex Junior All-American,
defeat 14-year-old David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C., in the
final match of the event to find his first crown of the year.
Kim, age 15, took the lead on the sixth hole with a par and
led the remainder of the match. A win on the ninth hole placed
him 2-up before Chung cut the lead to 1-up with a win on the
14th. While Chung fought to lessen this lead, he missed a six-foot
putt for birdie on the 18th hole that would have tied the match
and forced a play-off.
With his win, Kim became the second youngest golfer to win the
U.S. Junior Amateur. Kim is 22 days older than Tiger Woods was
when he won the event in 1991 at 15 years and seven months.
In addition to being the youngest player to win the event, Woods
holds the tournament record for most championships won, taking
top honors in the 1992 and 1993 tournaments.
As Kim was rounding up a win in California, Granada was finding
one of her own in Texas. The 17-year-old medalist defeated Jane
Park of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., on the 20th hole of the final
match in the U.S. Girls’ Junior held at Fort Worth’s
Mira Vista Golf Club.
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Sihwan
Kim |
The win was one for the record books as Granada became the first
medalist to win since In-Bee Park in 2002. Additionally, the
match tied the 1957 match between Judy Eller and Beth Stone
and the 1986 match between Pat Hurst and Adele Moore as the
longest final match in the event’s history.
After defeating Paula Creamer of Pleasanton, Calif., 1-up in
the semifinals, Granada, a first-team Rolex Junior All-American
advanced to the finals where her impeccable playing continued
as she hit 12 of 16 fairways and 18 of 20 greens. Park, also
a first-team Rolex Junior All-American, kept the pressure on
Granada, though, missing just four fairways and nailing 15 of
20 greens.
Despite both girls bogeying the first hole, the match remained
even until No. 5 when Granada took a 1-up lead. She held the
lead until Park got even on No.12 where she sank a tough eight-foot
downhill putt. Granada quickly gained it back on the next hole
with a 4-foot putt for par before Park evened it up again with
a win on No. 14.
The match remained even until hole 20 where Park’s second
shot left her 12 feet off the green in the right rough while
Granada’s second shot left her 12 feet from the hole.
Park’s third shot went running 15 feet by the hole before
she conceded to Granada. The match marked only the fourth time
in the tournament’s history that extra holes were needed.
Both the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Girls’ Amateur
have been considered premier junior competitions since their
respective beginnings in 1948 and 1949. As winners of these
events, Kim and Granada join an elite group of golfers who have
worn USGA crowns. |
