AJGA OSSO JUNIOR AT OAK TREE
Oak Tree Country Club, East Course
Edmond, Okla.
June 24-27, 2002

BEST, DRESSER ON TOP HEADING INTO FINAL ROUND AT OAK TREE
Rollins, Knoll share Girls Division lead

EDMOND, Okla. - Matt Best of Pauls Valley, Okla., followed his opening-round 68 with a 2-over 72 to maintain his spot atop the leaderboard at the AJGA OSSO Junior at Oak Tree. Andrew Dresser of Carrollton, Texas, shot a second-round 1-over 71 at the 6,942-yard, par-70 Oak Tree Country Club's East Course to tie for the Boys Division lead. With a tie at 3-over-par 143, Ashley Rollins, of Austin, Texas, and Ashley Knoll, of The Woodlands, Texas, lead the Girls Division.

The 54-hole event, conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, features 144 players hailing from 18 states and includes 49 Oklahoma natives and 46 juniors from Texas. The tournament is one of the largest of the year on the AJGA circuit. Past champions of the event include PGA TOUR players Brian Watts, Bob Estes and LPGA TOUR player Kelle Booth, who claimed the 1991 title.

Best, 17, carried his momentum from the first round into today's round to help him get going early.

"I birdied two out of my first three holes which put me out on a great start," Best said.
Best played his final nine holes at even par to put himself in good position for his first AJGA title.

"I knew that I had to be even or better for the tournament to be in that last group of the day tomorrow," Best said.

Starting on the back nine, Dresser was aggressive early with birdies on Nos. 10 and 12.
Dresser, who has a pair of top-10 finishes to his credit this season, added a birdie on the 194-yard, par-3 No. 6 after knocking a 4-iron to within four feet to move back to even par for the day.

"The course is definitely playing tough," said Dresser on a day which no one broke par. "I feel like I left a lot of shots out there today, but that is going to happen. You are going to have a couple of bad holes."

Best and Dresser stand at even-par 140 for the tournament, four shots ahead of Trent Leon of Dallas and Martin Ureta of Wesley Chapel, Fla. Robert Stone of Dallas and Cameron Bishop of Tulsa, Okla., are tied for fifth at 145.

In the Girls Division, Rollins (72-71--143) said she got off to a rough start, but she was able to get into her groove after a birdie on No. 3.

"I stuck my chip to five feet which helped me get it back together after being 2-over," Rollins said.

Rollins ended with three birdies on the day to help her jump into a tie for the lead with Knoll, who fired the low round of the day for the girls with an even-par 70.

"I was 2-under early which helped me have some leeway later on," Knoll said. "Overall, I hit the ball better today and my distance putting was stronger."

Taylor Leon of Dallas holds third place at 146 after shooting a 73.

Final-round action begins with the first wave of tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, June 27 off the No. 1 and 10 tees at the Oak Tree Country Club, East Course. The second wave gets underway at 12 p.m.

For more information on the AJGA OSSO Junior at Oak Tree, contact our tournament headquarters at (405) 330-9545.


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