Shieh Fires 67, Tops Leaderboard at Montverde Academy Junior All-Star Invitational
Pineda, Kim tied in Girls Division at Mission Inn Resort & Club

Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. — Hayden Shieh of Fremont, Calif., fired a 4-under-par 67 in the second round to climb from a tie for seventh into the lead as he heads into the final round. In the Girls Division, Tatiana Pineda of Bogota, Colombia, and Hannah Kim of San Ysidro, Calif., are tied for the lead, each with a two-round total of 1-over-par 143.

The Montverde Academy Junior All-Star Invitational is a 54-hole stroke play event being held on the Las Colinas Course at Mission Inn Resort & Club. The 78-player field is made up of junior boys and girls, ages 12-15, who have had success in this season's Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series. In all, 20 states are represented along with players from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The Boys Division is playing the par-71 course at 6,582 yards while the Girls Division is playing at 5,663.

Shieh began the day in seventh, after shooting a 1-over-par 72 in the first round. He credits the five-stroke swing to his approach shots. His work with irons and wedges helped him to a two-round total of 3-under-par 139.

“I hit a lot of greens today and was close enough to make birdies,” Shieh said. “Yesterday I wasn't so close.”

Shieh recorded seven birdies and only three bogeys throughout the second round, with four of those birdies being collected in his last seven holes. That seven-hole run began with a birdie on No. 12 that brought him back to even for the day.

“When I made the birdie on No. 12, I knew I was going to make more before the round was over,” Shieh said. ”After that, I made a 40-foot putt from the fringe on No. 15.”

In second is Colin Proctor of Anderson, Ind., and Corey Shaun of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., who are tied with two-round totals of 2-under-par 140. In a tie for fourth are Ben Dietrich of Conover, N.C., and Eric Edwards of Salisbury, N.C., each having carded a two-round total of 1-under-par 141.

In the Girls Division, Pineda countered her first-round 74 with a second-round 69, helping her from a tie for 10th into a tie for the lead. Beginning on No. 10 due to a two-tee start, she made an up-and-down for par on her first hole before carding her first birdie of the day on the par-3 No. 11.

“I hit a great shot on No. 11,” Pineda said. “That shot, and making the birdie on that hole, gave me confidence for the rest of the round.”

Joining Pineda at the top of the leaderboard, Kim credits her second-round 70 to improved putting and capitalizing on birdie opportunities.

“Today I had fewer three-putts than yesterday,” Kim said. “I worked on my putting a lot after yesterday's round and decided today I would just go with the flow and see what happened.”

Rounding out the top three is Hee Wook Choi of San Diego, with a two-day total of 2-over-par 144.

Founded in 1912, Montverde Academy is an independent college preparatory school located in Montverde, Florida. The Academy prepares junior golfers, student athletes and students from across the world with world-class academics and nationally-recognized athletic programs.

Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy, a full-time signature golf instruction program located in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., began as an Official Partner of the AJGA in 2009. The partnership features an endowment of an Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant and the naming rights to the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series.

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 countries. To ensure scholarship opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial assistance to young players in need.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 400 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.

Final-round tee times will run Monday off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees at Mission Inn Resort & Club's Las Colinas Course. For more information, please contact Tournament Headquarters at (352) 324-3926.