TEXACE SAN ANTONIO SHOOTOUT
The Club At Sonterra, South Course
San Antonio, Texas
June 19-21, 2002

MINAHAN LAST ONE STANDING AFTER TEXACE SAN ANTONIO SHOOTOUT
Lang defends Girls Division title, wins fourth AJGA title of the year

SAN ANTONIO - James Minahan, of Spring, Texas, knocked in a four-foot birdie on No. 18 of the final round of the AJGA Texace San Antonio Shootout to claim the title by one stroke over Dallas native Charlie Holland. In the Girls Division, Brittany Lang, of McKinney, Texas, erased a one-shot, final-round deficit with a round of even par to win by two over five competitors.

The 54-hole tournament, conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, featured 120 players representing 12 states. Included in the field were 93 participants from Texas. The event was held on the South Course at The Club At Sonterra.

Minahan, who was the first round leader with a 7-under 65 sandwiched his second-round 78 with a final round 6-under 66 to win with a three-day total of 209. His three-day total is a new tournament record. The previous record-set by Tiger Woods in the inaugural event in 1992 was 210.

"I am real excited to be able to come back after yesterday's round," Minahan said. "A lot of times I would give up on myself, but I knew I would have a shot and went out and grinded all day."

Holland (74-68-68--210) kept it interesting until the final hole. On the par-5, 493-yard No. 17 he canned a 25-foot birdie putt to go to 7-under and took a one-stroke lead to the final hole.
Minahan (65-78-66--209) came to the 185-yard, par-3 No. 18 thinking he needed a birdie to have a chance to win and went right after the flagstick. He stuck a four iron to four feet and then dropped the putt for his sixth birdie of the day. Holland, who was playing in only his second AJGA event, arrived at the tee needing at least a par to force a playoff. He left his tee shot short and to the right and ended up with a bogey securing the title for the 16-year-old Minahan.

Holland, 16, who received an exemption into the event after a fifth-place finish at the AJGA Deloitte & Touche Junior Team Championship held earlier this month, was gracious in defeat.
"I didn't even think I was going to finish in the top 20," Holland said. " If I wanted somebody to win it would be James. He is a nice guy and I have know him for a long time."

In other action, Ryan Henry, of Broken Arrow, Okla., celebrated his 18th birthday with a third-place finish after a three-round total of 211. Trent Leon, of Dallas, was fourth at 212 and Dan Kleckner, a high school teammate of Minahan, was fifth at 213.

In the Girls Division, 16-year-old Brittany Lang became the first back-to-back champion of the AJGA Texace San Antonio Shootout. She came from one back on the final day to grab her fourth AJGA title of the year. Lang (72-76-72--220) had four birdies to go along with two bogies and one double for a round of 72.

"I am happy to defend my title," Lang said. "Last week at (the Rolex Junior Girls Junior Championship) I didn't, so it feels good to win two years in a row."

Lang said she had to work harder this year to collect the title and was happy to win even though she didn't post a round under par.

"This course is a lot harder than the course last year," Lang said, referring to the bottleneck fairways of the South Course. "This is a tricky course."

Five girls tied for second with a three-day total of 222. They were: Taylor Leon, of Dallas, Caney Hines, of San Antonio, Ashley Knoll, of The Woodlands, Texas, Ashley Rollins, of Austin, Texas, and Cindy Shin of Coppell, Texas.

For more information regarding the Texace San Antonio Shootout or other AJGA events, please contact our headquarters at (770) 868-4200 or visit our Web site at ajga.org.

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