EDUARDO CONTRERAS / Union-Tribune
In his seventh and final try, Eugene Wong gets a Junior World title at the Torrey Pines South Course yesterday.
|
Without the grandstands and the roaring crowd, the 18th hole on the Torrey Pines South Course yesterday was nearly unrecognizable from the U.S. Open of a month ago. A few dozen people milled about, anticipating the conclusion of the 41st Callaway Junior World Championships.
That didn't matter to Eugene Wong, who now will remember Torrey's closing hole for more than just Tiger Woods' dramatic putts.
Down by a shot going into the 72nd hole in the Boys 15-17 Division, Wong rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt after Australian Daniel Nisbet put his approach in the water to make bogey, and the 17-year-old from North Vancouver, British Columbia, captured his first Junior World title in his seventh and last try.
Wong will be playing in the fall at the University of Oregon, and when the putt fell, he pumped his fist and turned toward his Ducks coach, former PGA Tour player Casey Martin.
“My first thought was, like, wow, I get to put my name beside Tiger Woods and all of those other great players who have won Junior World,” said Wong, who prevailed by a shot with a total of 4-under 284.
The drama in the Girls 15-17 final round at Carlton Oaks Country Club was nearly as tense. Encinitas' Danielle Frasier came from four strokes down to take a one-stroke lead with four holes to play, but Thailand's Patcharajutar Kongkraphan birdied the 15th through 17th holes to shoot even-par 72 and seize a three-shot victory at 4-under 284.
It was the second straight year Frasier, 15, was the runner-up.
“Second again!” Frasier said with a laugh, after she'd wiped away a few tears. “I hate coming in second. I'm the first loser.”
In Wong's case, he saved his best for the last round. He hadn't broken 70 until yesterday, when his 4-under 68 was the lowest score of the tournament on a South Course that played very difficult for the teenagers. The top two scorers were the only players to finish in red numbers. Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho, took solo third at 3-over, seven shots behind Wong.
“The kid he beat is a phenomenal player,” Martin said of Nisbet, 17, a former champion of the Australian Junior and Junior Masters. “They lapped the field, really.”
Tied after 11 holes, Wong made a double-bogey at the difficult par-4 12th to fall two behind. He got a shot back when he rifled an 8-iron from 168 yards to 2 feet for birdie at the 17th.
Both players found the fairway bunkers with their drives on 18, and both had to lay up. But Nesbit saw his approach shot spin back into the water, and Wong responded by hitting an 80-yard wedge to 10 feet left of the hole.
Nesbit showed some mettle when he hit his approach 15 feet behind the hole, and then made the critical putt for bogey and a 70. That put all the weight back on Wong, who responded by dropping in his birdie on the cup's right edge.
Wong, who has been playing in the Junior World since he was 9, said it was the biggest putt he's made in his life.
“My heart was pounding out of my chest,” he said. “There was a lot of work that went into winning.”
At Carlton Oaks, it was the story of putts made and missed for the girls.
When Frasier converted a 30-foot birdie on the 14th hole, she had engineered a five-shot swing to take the lead by one. Her comeback included chip-in birdies at the ninth and 12th holes. But short misses would cost her dearly.
After lipping out an eagle chance from 70 yards at the par-5 15th, Frasier missed her 3-footer for birdie, and Kongkraphan answered with birdie to tie. At the par-4 16th, Frasier misfired on a 6-foot birdie try, and Kongkraphan made a 12-footer to seize the lead. Kongkraphan all but sealed the win when she drained another birdie, from 25 feet, at the par-3 17th. Frasier bogeyed the 18th.
“She really stepped it up coming in,” said Frasier, who shot 71. “Last year, I felt like I kind of gave up a little bit. I wanted to give it my all this year, and I felt like I did.”
The champion of two previous Junior Worlds and the top-ranked junior girl in this year's field, Frasier was beaten by 10 shots last year in her first foray in this division. She still has two more chances to win.
“I've got to come back now,” Frasier said with a smile. “I've got to win it now.”
Tod Leonard: (619) 293-1858; tod.leonard@uniontrib.com
