Newsmakers: August 21, 2006

Junior Round-up

The U.S. Amateur is set to kick off this week at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. With the many talented AJGA juniors playing this season, it is no surprise that many will be present in the field this week.

Kevin Tway of Edmond, Okla., and No. 1 ranked junior in the AJGA Boys Rankings Philip Francis of Scottsdale, Ariz., both received exemptions into this week’s event after winning the 2005 and 2006 U.S. Junior, respectively. Tadd Fujikawa of Honolulu, Hawaii, also was exempt from qualifying after making it to the U.S. Open earlier this year.

Others who will take part in this week’s U.S. Amateur include No. 2 ranked junior Peter Uihlein of Bradenton, Fla., and No. 3 ranked Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Calif. Champions of the 2005 and 2006 FootJoy Boys Invitational Kyle Stanley of Gig Harbor, Wash., and Andrew Yunof Tacoma, Wash., will look for another win before the summer is over.

David Yujin Chung of Fayetteville, N.C., Jordan Cox of Redwood City, Calif., Josh Dupont of Poway, Calif., Andres Echavarria of Bradenton, Fla., Roberto Galletti, Jr., of Clayton, Calif., Rory Hie of Los Angeles, Jason Kang of Valencia, Calif., and Drew Kittleson of Scottsdale, Ariz., are hoping to walk away with the title. They will be joined by Richard Lee of Chandler, Ariz, Shane Mason of San Diego, Ji Moon of Lake Mary, Fla., Patrick Reed of Baton Rouge, La., Conrad Shindler of Coppell, Texas, Hudson Swafford of Tallahassee, Fla., Alex Volpenhein of Edgewood, Ky., and Steve Ziegler of Broomfield, Colo.

The event will run from August 21-27.

Professional Round-up

Tiger Woods earned his 12th career major victory last weekend at the PGA Championship. His 18-under-par led the field by five shots. It was his second major of the season, having won the British Open last month.