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Brian
Harman |
Julieta
Granada |
Harman,
Granada Named Rolex Junior Players of the Year
Brian
Harman of Savannah, Ga., and Julieta Granada of
Asuncion, Paraguay, were named the 2004 Rolex
Junior Players of the Year by the American Junior
Golf Association Tuesday.
After
garnering Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors
in 2003, Harman, 17, becomes the fourth boy in
the AJGA’s 27-year history to win the award
more than once. Only Tracy Phillips (1979-80),
Phil Mickelson (1986-88) and Tiger Woods (1991-92)
can boast such an accomplishment.
Granada
becomes the second player from South America to
be named Rolex Junior Player of the Year. LPGA
Tour player Jenny Lidback, who was born in Lima,
Peru, was crowned Rolex Player of the Year in
1981. Including Lidback, Granada now joins Pearl
Sinn (1985), Grace Park (1994, ‘96), Candie
Kung (1999), Aree Song (2000) and In-Bee Park
(2002) on the list of award winners born outside
the United States.
By
earning this honor, Harman and Granada secured
a spot on their respective Rolex Junior All-America
first teams. Their esteemed accomplishments during
the 2004 season will be heralded Nov. 21 during
the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet held
at Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga. The
awards ceremony, dubbed “The Greatest Night
in Junior Golf,” will also trumpet the achievements
of the rest of golf’s next generation, the
Rolex Junior All-America Teams and the HP Scholastic
Junior All-America Team.
Harman
started his 2004 season with a win at the Polo
Golf Junior Classic last November, the same week
he was honored as the 2003 Rolex Junior Player
of the Year. In doing so, he became only the fourth
player to win the award and that event during
the same week (Tracy Phillips, 1979; Brian Watts,
1984; Tiger Woods, 1991).
After
finishing tied for fourth at the MCI Junior Heritage
in February, Harman shot 75-70-69–214 at
the Thunderbird International Junior during Memorial
Day Weekend, good for a tie for 10th.
His
second victory of the 2004 season came at the
FootJoy Boys Invitational. He successfully defended
the title he won there in 2003 by posting a 68-70-74-70–282
tournament total. Harman avoided a four-way playoff
by holing a 50-foot putt for birdie on the final
hole of the championship. Add to this a T-9 finish
at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and a run
to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur
and it is evident how successful Harman was during
2004.
The
sport began to take notice of Harman outside of
junior golf as the year progressed, as he participated
in two PGA TOUR events and the U.S. Amateur. Although
he missed the cut at the MCI Heritage, he made
the cut at the Buick Championship (73-67-71-73–284)
and advanced to the match play portion of the
U.S. Amateur. The Buick Championship annually
awards a sponsor’s exemption to the previous
year’s Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
To
put Granada’s tremendous 2004 in perspective,
one needs to look no further than her stroke play
finishes. She never finished outside the top three
in nine events, racking up three victories along
the way. She was equally impressive in match play,
as she won the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship
by defeating Curtis Cup team member Jane Park
in the finals. She also advanced to the round
of 16 in both the 2003 Polo Golf Junior Classic
and the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Along
with her victory at the U.S. Girls’, Granada
also took home the titles at the Rolex Girls Junior
Championship, Randall Parker Shootout at Fieldstone
and the AJGA Richmond Junior.
She
amassed a 71.1 stroke average during junior stroke
play events, a number that was lowered by a final-round
8-under-par 64 at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship.
At this event alone, she worked her way into the
AJGA record book twice. Her 64 placed her tied
for fourth all time for low 18-hole total. Her
68-69-64–201 tournament total placed her
alone in third for low 54-hole score, bested only
by Virada Nirapathpongporn (1999 PING Myrtle Beach
Junior) and In-Bee Park (2003 PING Junior at the
Peninsula Club) at 200.
Introduced
by the AJGA in 1978, Rolex Junior Players of the
Year are annually honored at the Rolex Junior
All-America Awards Banquet, which officially ends
the AJGA’s season. Past recipients have
gone on to become some of the most esteemed players
on the PGA and LPGA Tours, including Tiger Woods,
Phil Mickelson, Grace Park, Cristie Kerr and many
others.
None
of this would be possible without the support
of Rolex Watch USA, the AJGA’s Premier Partner
and supporter of the Association since 1983.
Along
with the sponsorship of the Rolex Junior Players
of the Year, Rolex Junior All-America Teams and
Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet, the distinguished
timepiece maker also continues to support two
of the AJGA’s most competitive major championships:
the Rolex Tournament of Champions and Rolex Girls
Junior Championship.
In
January, Rolex was also named the inaugural Founding
Partner of the Achieving Competitive Excellence
Grant. The ACE Grant is designed to give top-flight
junior golfers the ability to play a national
junior golf schedule despite their financial resources.
In 2004, with the help of Rolex and various individual
donors, 37 junior golfers were able to compete
in events they otherwise could not afford.
Rolex
is also the Official Partner to the PING Junior
Solheim Cup, an international team match play
event that pits the best junior girls from the
United States against their European counterparts.
This biennial event will take place Sept. 5-8,
2005, at The Bridgewater Club in Noblesville,
Ind.
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