KEENEY SHOOTS 67 TO GRAB FIRST-ROUND LEAD IN BOYS DIVISION
Erica Blasberg's 70 leads Girls Division by one stroke

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Ryan Keeney of Redmond, Wash., fired a 34-33--67 on his way to taking the first-round Boys Division lead at the AJGA ClubCorp Junior at Mission Hills Tuesday. In the Girls Division, Erica Blasberg of Corona, Calif., secured the first-round lead by shooting a 34-36--70 total.

The AJGA ClubCorp Junior at Mission Hills, conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, features 84 of the nation's top junior golfers ages 13-18. In its 20th year, the 54-hole tournament includes 17 Polo Golf Junior All-Americans. Ten states and Scotland are also represented in this week's field. Past winners include names such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bob May, Grace Park, Kellee Booth and Emilee Klein.

Keeney's recent AJGA track record has been impeccable. Last week, at the AJGA Las Vegas Founders' Legacy Junior, he placed second after bowing-out on the first hole to Pat Moore of Phoenix, Ariz., in a sudden-death playoff. His 5-under-par 67 today came with an out of bounds penalty on No. 3 and a three-putt. Each mistake, Keeney said, was followed by a great recovery.

"I'm playing with a lot of confidence right now," he said. "My back-nine 33 was just textbook golf. I had a hot putter and every putt seemed like a tap-in."

Keeney is all alone at the top with Kyle Gentry of Carmel, Calif., and Scott MacDonald of Playa Del Ray, Calif., at 68, Derek Abel of Plano, Texas, at 69 and five others at 70 rounding out the top five places in the division.

The Girls Division has Blasberg atop the leaderboard all alone as well. Blasberg won her first AJGA event at the 1999 AJGA Compaq Junior Championship at Trophy Lake. She then went on to win the 1999 AJGA Ashworth / Golf Design Junior Championship and repeated as champion at Trophy Lake in 2000. She's now on her way to etching her name in the record books at Mission Hills.

Ten of the 17 Polo Golf Junior All-Americans are in the Girls Division, including Blasberg.

"Even though I didn't make many birdies," Blasberg said, "it seemed like I had a lot of easy par putts. As long as you hit greens and stay in the fairway, this course isn't that bad. But I guess that's the case with most courses."

Stella Lee of Irvine, Calif., and Sunny Oh of Torrance, Calif., at 71, will be chasing Blasberg when action continues.

Also, Priscilla Park of Santa Ana, Calif., stroked a 7-iron for a hole-in-one on the 121-yard, par-3 11th.

Tee times will begin Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. off the No. 1 and 10 tees.

For more information about the AJGA ClubCorp Junior at Mission Hills call AJGA tournament headquarters at (760) 324-9400 ext. 508.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- First-round results from the CLUBCORP JUNIOR AT MISSION HILLS conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at Mission Hills Country Club, Palmer Course. Par: 36-36--72. Yardage: Boys: 6,798 Girls: 5,887.

BOYS DIVISION

Ryan Keeney (2002) Redmond, Wash.* 34-33--67
Kyle Gentry (2002) Carmel, Calif.* 35-33--68
Scott MacDonald (2002) Playa Del Rey, Calif.* 34-34--68
Derek Abel (2001) Plano, Texas* 33-36--69
Jay Choi (2002) Buena Park, Calif.* 34-36--70
Kevin Na (2002) Diamond Bar, Calif.* 36-34--70
Kevin Larsen (2003) Santa Barbara, Calif.* 35-35--70
Darren Blair (2003) Coto De Caza, Calif.* 37-33--70
Anthony Kim (2003) La Quinta, Calif.* 33-37--70
Pansing Singhaseni (2002) Beverly Hills, Calif.* 36-35--71
Joshua Wooding (2003) Riverside, Calif.* 34-37--71
Jeff Bell (2002) Plano, Texas* 34-37--71
Michael Feuerstein (2002) La Jolla, Calif.* 37-34--71
Taylor Wood (2002) Laguna Niguel, Calif.* 35-36--71
Taylor Neal (2002) Thousand Oaks, Calif.* 35-37--72
J.J. Wood (2002) Yuma, Ariz.* 33-39--72
Nathan Hall (2003) Atherton, Calif.* 36-36--72
David Yoon (2004) Irvine, Calif.* 37-35--72
Matt Kern (2001) Castro Valley, Calif.* 35-38--73
Edward McGlasson (2002) Orange, Calif.* 33-40--73
D.J. Reeves (2002) Mission Viejo, Calif.* 35-38--73
James Choi (2001) Lakewood, Calif.* 36-37--73
Mike Rim (2002) Lakewood, Calif.* 36-37--73
Steven Bullock (2002) Dove Canyon, Calif.* 38-35--73
Henry Liaw (2003) Rowland Heights, Calif.* 37-36--73
Joseph Kim (2003) Laguna Niguel, Calif.* 35-38--73
Matt Brooks (2001) Mesa, Ariz.* 37-36--73
Andrew Price (2001) Mission Viejo, Calif.* 36-38--74
Jonathan Taruc (2003) Las Vegas, Nev.* 36-38--74
Doug Miller (2001) Thousand Oaks, Calif.* 40-34--74
Daniel Im (2004) La Mirada, Calif.* 37-37--74
Blaine Peffley (2002) Lebanon, Pa.* 37-37--74
Zack Miller (2003) San Rafael, Calif.* 36-38--74
Jimmy Harris (2002) El Cajon, Calif.* 39-35--74
Steve Gray (2001) Lee's Summit, Mo.* 36-38--74
Zach Christ (2002) Santa Rosa, Calif.* 36-38--74
Alex Coe (2002) Danville, Calif.* 36-38--74
Mitch Carlson (2002) Las Vegas, Nev.* 37-38--75
Nathan Smith (2002) Soquel, Calif.* 38-37--75
Brendan Steele (2001) Idyllwild, Calif.* 38-37--75
Brandon Christianson (2004) Valencia, Calif.* 36-39--75
Troy Denton (2001) Dallas, Texas* 38-37--75
Jay Choe (2002) Yorba Linda, Calif.* 37-38--75
Dan Cho (2006) Diamond Bar, Calif.* 37-39--76
John Poucher (2001) Santa Barbara, Calif.* 38-38--76
Michael Wilson (2002) Pacific Grove, Calif.* 38-38--76
Jason Cook (2004) Windermere, Fla.* 39-38--77
Ryan Qualle (2001) Turlock, Calif.* 39-38--77
Eric Chang (2002) Chino Hills, Calif.* 38-40--78
David Lieberman (2004) Palm Springs, Calif.* 39-39--78
Chris Elliott (2002) Plano, Texas* 38-40--78
Breene Murphy (2001) Los Alamitos, Calif.* 37-41--78
Michael McCaig (2003) Fountain Valley, Calif.* 38-40--78
Eric Schneider (2005) Palm Desert, Calif.* 40-38--78
Paul Brown (2002) Pasadena, Calif.* 37-42--79
Mark Lamb (2002) East Lothian, Scotland* 40-40--80
Elliott Wainwright (2003) Hillsborough, Calif.* 40-40--80
David Hawkins (2001) Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.* 38-47--85
Nick Altman (2002) Rancho Mirage, Calif.* 41-46--87
Ben Fuqua (2003) Pasadena, Calif.* 41-47--88

GIRLS DIVISION

Erica Blasberg (2002) Corona, Calif.* 34-36--70
Stella Lee (2001) Irvine, Calif.* 37-34--71
Sunny Oh (2002) Torrance, Calif.* 36-35--71
Ina Kim (2001) Encino, Calif.* 36-36--72
Charlotte Mayorkas (2001) Chula Vista, Calif.* 36-36--72
Allison Martin (2003) Bakersfield, Calif.* 35-37--72
Danielle Reilly (2002) Las Vegas, Nev.* 37-36--73
Yvonne Choe (2001) Temple City, Calif.* 39-34--73
Ashley Rollins (2003) Austin, Texas* 36-38--74
Erin Long (2001) Napa, Calif.* 37-37--74
Irene Cho (2002) La Habra, Calif.* 35-39--74
Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana (2003) Long Beach, Calif.* 38-37--75
Jane Park (2005) LaCrescenta, Calif.* 38-37--75
Hwanhee Lee (2001) Cerritos, Calif.* 38-38--76
Lisa Ferrero (2001) Lodi, Calif.* 39-38--77
Walailak Satarak (2001) Paramount, Calif.* 35-42--77
Lani Elston (2001) Spokane, Wash.* 39-38--77
Nikki Jacoby (2002) San Diego, Calif.* 41-36--77
Young Pak (2001) Cerritos, Calif.* 39-39--78
Jane Lee (2004) Palm Desert, Calif.* 37-41--78
Sara Jones (2002) Valencia, Calif.* 37-41--78
Emma Stachowicz (2002) Pacific Palisades, Calif.* 39-40--79
Elena Kurokawa (2002) Redondo Beach, Calif.* 41-39--80
Priscilla Park (2002) Santa Ana, Calif.* 47-40--87