2001 AJGA THUNDERBIRD INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR

THUNDERBIRD INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR
Grayhawk Golf Club, Raptor Course
Scottsdale, Arizona
May 25-28, 2001

WASHINGTON NATIVES TAKE TITLES AT THUNDERBIRD INTERNATIONAL
Moore fires a 68 in Boys Division, while Elston cards a 73 to take Girls Division

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Ryan Moore of Puyallup, Wash., carded his third consecutive round in the 60s to take the Boys Division crown at the AJGA Thunderbird International Junior on Monday. It was a Washington sweep as Lani Elston of Spokane won the Girls Division. The pair also took their respective titles last week at the Washington State 4A High School Championships.

The 54-hole event, conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, was held at the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club, the home club of AJGA alum and PGA Tour standout Phil Mickelson. The second annual invitational featured 90 of the top juniors from around the world, representing 20 states and 12 countries, with 63 AJGA Polo Golf Junior All-Americans and 24 international players.

The 18-year-old Moore, who led the entire tournament, fired rounds of 67-67-68 for a total of 14-under-par 202 on the par-72, 7,103-yard layout for a three-shot victory. His biggest lead of the day came after a chip-in on No. 16 from 50 feet to go to 15-under. He followed the birdie with a bogey on No. 17, only his second of the three-round tournament.

"I didn't make any mistakes and did not have too many errant shots," the UNLV-signee said. "I controlled the ball really well. I kept it in the fairway, hit a lot of greens and made putts."

This event was Moore's second AJGA victory, his first coming in 1999 at the AJGA Boise Junior Classic. It was also his third win in row after taking the crown at the Pugent Sound Amateur and the Washington State 4A High School Championship in the two weeks prior.

"This win is huge for me," Moore said. "This is an incredible field and to win this, which is one of my last junior events, is awesome. To go out this way feels good."

Anthony Kim of La Quinta, Calif., fired a second consecutive 67 to finish three shots off the lead at 205. Chan Song Wongluekiet of Bradenton, Fla., who won the inaugural event last year, placed third at 210. Rounding out the top five were Kevin Na of Diamond Bar, Calif., at 212, and Rick Kulacz of Perth, Australia, at 215.

In the Girls Division, University of Idaho-bound Elston carded rounds of 74-72-73 for a total of 3-over-par 219 to win her first AJGA event. After double bogeys on No. 1 in the first two rounds, she parred the first hole to get the day started. After finishing the front nine at even-par, she birdied No. 10 after playing a 10-foot-break.

"I played consistent today," the 18-year-old said. "I knew where I stood most of the day. I had bogeys on No. 15 and 16, so I told myself that I needed to get back to business and play my game on No. 17. On No. 18, I knew all I had to do was two-putt, so I tried to lag it and I had a tap-in for par.

"I can't believe I won," she continued. "I am so excited to have pulled this one out."

One stroke off the pace at 220 was Aimee Cho of Orlando, Fla. Kelly Husted of Sarasota, Fla., took third with a 222 total, while Jackie Beers of Midlothian, Va., placed fourth at 223. Jessica Shepley of Oakville, Ontario, and Erica Blasberg of Corona, Calif., tied for fifth with three-day totals of 224.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Final results from the THUNDERBIRD INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at Grayhawk Golf Club, Raptor Course. Par: 36-36--72. Yardage: Boys: 7,103 Girls: 6,205

BOYS DIVISION

Pos.	Name	Grad. Year	City	State	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Total
1	Ryan Moore	2001	Puyallup	Wash.	67	67	68	202
2	Anthony Kim	2003	La Quinta	Calif.	71	67	67	205
3	Chan Song Wongluekiet	2001	Bradenton	Fla.	69	71	70	210
4	Kevin Na	2002	Diamond Bar	Calif.	70	71	71	212
5	Rick Kulacz	2002	Perth	Australia	75	69	71	215
6	Roberto Castro	2003	Alpharetta	Ga.	75	69	72	216
7	Henry Liaw	2003	Rowland Heights	Calif.	69	76	72	217
T8	Grigory Bondarenko	2001	Moscow	Russia	77	71	70	218
	Jesse Mueller	2001	Mesa	Ariz.	73	71	74	218
	Matt Kern	2001	Castro Valley	Calif.	75	70	73	218
T11	Erik Stenman	2001	Tampere	Finland	73	75	72	220
	Mark Donnell	2001	Mobile	Ala.	77	74	69	220
	Ted Smith	2002	Westlake	Ohio	70	77	73	220
	Casey Wittenberg	2004	Memphis	Tenn.	70	77	73	220
T15	Heath West	2001	Dothan	Ala.	77	71	73	221
	Nico Bollini	2001	Yorba Linda	Calif.	72	74	75	221
	James Vargas	2002	Miami	Fla.	72	73	76	221
T18	Reid Rader	2003	Kenmore	Wash.	73	75	74	222
	Nicholas Thompson	2001	Coral Springs	Fla.	76	71	75	222
	Matthew Rosenfeld	2002	Plano	Texas	73	73	76	222
21	Christo Greyling	2001	Orlando	Fla.	76	69	78	223
T22	Kevin Silva	2002	New Bedford	Mass.	74	74	76	224
	Drew Pigg	2002	Plano	Texas	76	74	74	224
	Richard Scott	2001	Kingsville	Ontario	69	77	78	224
25	Joel Gibbons	2001	Ocala	Fla.	74	78	73	225
26	Jay Reynolds	2001	Austin	Texas	70	75	81	226
27	Jeff Bell	2002	Plano	Texas	77	74	76	227
28	John Poucher	2001	Santa Barbara	Calif.	72	82	74	228
T29	Chris Wheeler	2001	Allen	Texas	74	77	78	229
	Tarik Can	2004	New York	N.Y.	81	77	71	229
T31	Clay Ogden	2003	West Point	Utah	74	75	81	230
	Michio Matsumura	2002	Tokyo	Japan	82	71	77	230
	Clint Provost	2001	Gulf Breeze	Fla.	77	77	76	230
34	Pansing Singhaseni	2002	Beverly Hills	Calif.	79	78	74	231
T35	John Fizer	2001	Trenton	N.J.	76	79	77	232
	Ashdon Woods	2001	Lander	Wyo.	77	81	74	232
37	David Huestis	2001	Worthington	Ohio	84	74	75	233
T38	Daniel Kush	2002	Tustin	Calif.	77	77	80	234
	Brian O'Flaherty	2001	Westlake Village	Calif.	81	79	74	234
	Doug Kingston	2001	Bethlehem	Pa.	81	80	73	234
T41	Yoshio Yamamoto	2003	Guadalajara	Mexico	77	78	80	235
	Niklas Lemke	2003	Linkoping	Sweden	78	85	72	235
43	Masaaki Kato	2002	Osaka	Japan	76	88	78	242
44	Masaki Nakanishi	2003	Osaka	Japan	81	75	88	244
T45	Jeff Bopp	2001	Katy	Texas	79	80	90	249
	Alfonso Collada	2005	Mexico City	Mexico	80	82	87	249
47	Clint Cromwell	2001	Savannah	Tenn.	86	87	84	257

GIRLS DIVISION

Pos.	Name	Grad. Year	City	State	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Total
1	Lani Elston	2001	Spokane	Wash.	74	72	73	219
2	Aimee Cho	2002	Orlando	Fla.	71	76	73	220
3	Kelly Husted	2002	Sarasota	Fla.	75	71	75	221
4	Jackie Beers	2002	Midlothian	Va.	70	76	76	222
T5	Jessica Shepley	2001	Oakville	Ontario	75	72	76	223
	Erica Blasberg	2002	Corona	Calif.	74	73	76	223
T7	Paula Creamer	2005	Pleasanton	Calif.	73	74	77	224
	Brittany Lang	2003	McKinney	Texas	71	76	77	224
T9	Elizabeth Janangelo	2002	West Hartford	Conn.	78	72	75	225
	Jane Lee	2004	Torrance	Calif.	76	71	78	225
11	Mallory Code	2003	Tampa	Fla.	78	72	76	226
T12	Whitney Welch	2002	Las Vegas	Nev.	79	76	72	227
	Ashley Knoll	2003	The Woodlands	Texas	77	76	74	227
	Maria Eugenia Martinez	2001	Maracaibo	Venezuela	71	80	76	227
15	Hwanhee Lee	2001	Cerritos	Calif.	75	77	76	228
T16	Whitney Code	2001	Tampa	Fla.	74	80	75	229
	Stella Lee	2001	Irvine	Calif.	81	72	76	229
18	Ouliana Rotmistrova	2001	Moscow	Russia	75	79	76	230
T19	Jennifer Karr	2001	Scottsdale	Ariz.	78	77	78	233
	Perry Swenson	2001	Boynton Beach	Fla.	76	78	79	233
T21	Priscilla Park	2002	Santa Ana	Calif.	76	79	79	234
	Ina Kim	2001	Encino	Calif.	77	79	78	234
	Lisa Ferrero	2001	Lodi	Calif.	72	80	82	234
T24	Devan Andersen	2002	Guadalajara	Mexico	80	79	76	235
	Lisa Tyler	2002	Lighthouse Point	Fla.	75	75	85	235
26	Golda Johansson	2002	Trelleborg	Sweden	75	82	79	236
T27	Karin Sjodin	2002	Goteborg	Sweden	81	78	79	238
	Erin Andrews	2002	Las Vegas	Nev.	79	82	77	238
T29	Whitney Wade	2003	Glasgow	Ky.	84	75	80	239
	Claire Grignolo	2004	Torino	Italy	78	82	79	239
T31	Tullia Calzavara	2002	Trevijo	Italy	81	79	80	240
	Cindy Shin	2003	McKinney	Texas	80	84	76	240
T33	Cristina Gonzalez	2004	Durango	Mexico	79	78	86	243
	Sofie Andersson	2002	Angelholm	Sweden	81	79	83	243
	Alissa Kuczka	2002	Phoenix	Ariz.	81	82	80	243
	Becky Berzonski	2001	North East	Pa.	81	82	80	243
T37	Eom Ji Park	2003	Vancouver	British Columbia	80	85	79	244
	Kyla Welsh	2001	Wellington	New Zealand	84	82	78	244
39	Alejandra Diaz	2003	Guadalajara	Mexico	82	83	81	246
40	Eline Zoethout	2002	Blokker	The Netherlands	86	81	83	250
41	Rachel Overstreet	2002	Pace	Fla.	94	86	85	265

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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.

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