ROBERTS CARDS 4-UNDER-PAR 68 TO LEAD MAYORS JUNIOR ALL-STAR INVITATIONAL
Yueer Cindy Feng leads Girls Division by three shots

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Austin Roberts of Carmichael, Calif., carded a 4-under-par 68 to grab a two-shot lead in the Boys Division after Saturday's first round of the Mayors Junior All-Star Invitational. Yueer Cindy Feng of Orlando, Fla., leads the Girls Division by three shots after carding a 1-under-par 71 at The Country Club at Mirasol's Sunset Course.

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Mayors Junior All-Star Invitational is a 54-hole stroke play event being held at the Sunset Course at The Country Club at Mirasol. The 77-player field features players from 19 states, Canada and South Africa. The par-72 course is being played at 6,904 yards for the Boys Division, and 6,008 yards for the Girls Division.

Roberts opened his round with birdies on three of his first four holes. After a bogey at the par-5 fifth, a birdie on No. 6 helped him rebound and post a 33 on the front nine.

“My putting had been pretty good and I knew that I could make the 15 footer,” Roberts said of his birdie on the par-3 sixth. “Making that putt was really important because I could get back into the process of making pars and birdies.”

Roberts has a pair of top-10 finishes this year — a tie for sixth at the Junior All-Star at Marshallia Ranch and a tie for fifth at the Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic.

“I was really trying not to think about score and keep thinking that I'm even,” Roberts said. “I had to keep making birdies because there's lots of competition out there.”

Four players will enter Sunday's second round just two shots off the lead at 2-under-par 70: Patrick Grimes of Palo Alto, Calif., Oliver Schniederjans of Powder Springs, Ga., Jason Roets of Eikenhof, South Africa, and Patrick-Reilly McMahon of Santa Maria, Calif.

In the Girls Division, Yueer Cindy Feng used three front-nine birdies to pace her 1-under-par opening round. The most important putt of her day may have been a 40-footer for bogey on No. 12.

“There's a big difference between bogey and double bogey because it affects your confidence,” Feng said. “It felt great because until then, I didn't make any long putts, just the normal putts. After that I had a lot of confidence in my putting.”

Feng's 2008 season already includes four wins in this year's Junior All-Star Series. Her score of 71 ties her second best effort of the year.

“It doesn't feel much different,” Feng said. “I'm just competing against myself and I'll try to beat myself tomorrow.”

Simin Feng of Orlando, and Marissa Borja of Spring Valley, Calif., carded rounds of 74 and are tied for second heading into the second round.

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.

The largest Association of its kind, the AJGA has an annual junior membership — boys and girls ages 12-18 — of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and more than 25 foreign countries.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.

Second-round tee times will run from 8 — 9:48 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees at the Sunset Course at The Country Club at Mirasol. For more information about the Mayors Junior All-Star Championship, please contact Tournament Headquarters at (770) 861-0519.