PLAYERS TO WATCH
Name: Gennifer Menendez
Age: 17
Residence: North Port, Fla.
Golfweek/Titleist ranking: N/A
The Skinny: Gennifer Mendez started playing golf when she was five years old, her first club a cut-down 5-iron. "I just fell in love with the sport from there," she told The Herald-Tribune last December. Last week at the 76th Florida Women's Amateur Match Play Championship, the number five once again became the most significant digit in her golf game, as the Florida senior found herself five holes down to Sarah Phillips-Durst with five to play in the second round at Souther Dunes Golf and Country Club. Miraculously, the 12th-seeded Mendez rallied back to win the next five holes and the first extra hole, eventually advancing to the finals where she beat former LPGA player and seventh-seeded Diane Lang, 4 and 3, for the championship. In route to the finals, Mendez defeated Sharon Keil in the first round, 1 up, setting up one of the tournament's historic comebacks. She upset fourth-seeded Terrell Italiano, 2 and 1, in the quarterfinals and Mary Jane Hiestand, 3 and 2, in the semis. "I've actually been playing awesome," said Mendez, 17, a North Port High senior who plans on playing at the University of South Florida next fall. According to The Herald-Tribune, Mendez plans to major in Early Childhood Education and if she doesn't end up on the LPGA tour, would like to be a kindergarten teacher. If Mendez's latest victory is any indication of her future, don't count on any finger-paintings on the fridge.

Name: Sam Saunders
Age: 17
Residence: Orlando, Fla.
Golfweek/Titleist ranking: N/A
The skinny: The owner of the biggest shoes-to-fill in golf, Sam Saunders told Golfweek recently that he will be attending Clemson University this fall. "I have made a verbal commitment to go there and I am looking forward to signing with them in November of next year," said Saunders, a highly-touted junior from Orlando, Fla., who also happens to be the oldest grandson of Arnold Palmer. Three years ago, Palmer said Saunders was going to attend Wake Forest, the King's alma mater. But when it came down to it, "Sam kind of wanted to make a name for himself and just felt that Clemson would be a better fit," Saunders' father, Roy, told the Winston-Salem Journal. "Sam didn't want to disappoint his grandfather, but he just thought that Clemson was the best place to go to college. It was a tough choice for him, but it was one he wanted to make on his own." Saunders is currently in his final week as a senior at Trinity Prep in Winter Park, Fla. Clemson is currently No. 28 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings (Wake Forest is No. 16), and is losing irst-team All-ACC selections Brent Delahoussaye and Jack Ferguson to graduation this year. The Tigers finished fourth in this year's ACC tournament, six shots better than Wake Forest. Palmer won the ACC individual title in 1954.

NEWS AND NOTES

* The United States Golf Association recently accepted a record 9,048 entries for the 2005 U.S. Open to be played June 16-19 at Pinehurst Resort (No. 2 Course) in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. The number is 322 entries higher than the previous record count accepted for the 2004 Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 2004. The youngest golfer to enter is 14-year-old Andrew Yun of Tacoma, Wash., No. 250 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings. To be eligible, the player must have an up-to-date USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4 under the Men's USGA Handicap System, or be a professional.
* You won't see Paula Creamer at the LPGA Corning Classic in two weeks, and it won't be because she's looking for some rest and relaxation. The 18-year-old LPGA rookie will attend her high school graduation May 25 in Bradenton, Fla. Creamer had been mulling what to do the past few months, but finally decided that her graduation was something she didn't want to miss. (Creamer wrapped up classes at The Pendleton School in December so she could concentrate on the first half of the LPGA season.) "It'll be fun," she said. "I'll get to see all my teachers and friends, it should be a nice time." Creamer has played in seven events this season and is 18th on the LPGA money list with $166,811. She was also recently named recipient of the sixth annual Nancy Lopez Award, presented annaully to the world's most outstanding feamle amateur. Creamer will behonored May 12 at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.
* Could a player under 12 years old play in the U.S. Women's Open this year? Seven players 12 or younger at the time of filing have entered to compete in the U.S. Golf Association event. A record 1,158 entries were filed by the May 4 deadline for the Women's Open to be held June 23-26 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. The youngest competitor entered is Alexis Thompson of Coral Springs, Fla., who is 10. Eleven-year-old Ginger Howard of Jacksonville, Fla., also is entered. Five 12-year-olds entered ­ Kyle Roig, Dakoda Dowd, Jenny Shin, Tanya Wadhwa and Danielle Frasier. In 2001, Morgan Pressel, Golfweek's top-ranked junior and amateur, qualified for the Women's Open at age 12 years and 11 months. Pressel is the youngest qualifier for the Open. Pressel and her sister, Madison, are among 14 sister acts to enter this year's championship. Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam and Aree and Naree Song are also among the sisters to enter. Local and sectional qualifying will be held May 16-June 4 around the country. (Staff and wire reports)
* Although she has played in only three professional events, 16-year-old In-Bee Park is making some noise. Park shot 66-71-67 for a 12-under 204 and finished fifth April 16 at the Takefuji Classic in Las Vegas. Park, a junior at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, tied for eighth at last year's event and missed the cut. Park said she was honored to be competing with the pros ­ but not intimidated. "It is a good experience for me, playing with these great players," Park said after the round. "It's like a dream. This is where my future will be, so I'm really enjoying myself." Park, who at times was the top player in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings over the last couple of years, has a scoring average of 70.88 in eight rounds played on tour. "My goal was to finish better this year, and I'm very happy to achieve my goal," Park said.

Short shots: Julieta Granada, 18, has recieved a sponsor exemption into the ShopRite LPGA Classic June 3-5. . . .The LPGA/USGA Girls Golf program recently added three new sites (Wildhorse GC in Davis, Calif., Coyote Creek GC in Lupton, Colo., and Rolling Green GC in Sarasota, Fla.), bringing its total of new sites in 2005 to 24. . . . The GCAA and the Junior Orange Bowl Committee have named Erik Flores of Grass Valley, Calif.; Michael Green of Augusta, Ga.; Nick Smith of Ocala, Fla.; and Matthew Swan of Montgomery, Ala., to this year's USA Junior World Golf Cup team. The event will be held June 21-24 at Chuko Country Club in Toyota, Japan. . . .James Lee of La Habra, Calif., and Jennie Lee of Huntington Beach, Calif., fought their way back to finish the day at 18-under-par 195 for a four-stroke victory May 8 at the I.R.I. Arizona National Mixed Team Championship. Both seniors (and not related), James will play for UCLA next year, Jennie for Duke. . . .Sixteen-year-old Morgan Pressel fired a final-round 69 May 8 to finish tied for 19th at the Michelob ULTRA Open with a 4-over 288 total. Pressel, Golfweek's top-ranked amateur and junior player, will also be in the field at this week's Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
Here is a list of last week's winners and their movement in the Golfweek/Titleist Performance Index:

The class of 2005 enters its last summer of junior Golf. Below is a list of where each individual places in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings within their class (and what school they have decided to bring their game's to):

BOYS 1. Brian Harman (Georgia) 69.5
2. Jon Curran (Vanderbilt) 70.42
3. David May (Clemson) 70.46
4. Randy Lowry (Texas) 70.64
5. Erik Flores (UCLA) 70.95
6. Eddie Olson (UNLV) 71.14
7. Matthew Swan (Alabama) 71.27
8. Lucas Lee (UCLA) 71.34
9. Michael Green (Georgia) 71.36
10. James Lee (UCLA) 71.63
11. Matt Giftos (N/A) 71.69
12. Nicholas Smith (Florida St.) 71.75
13. Rafael Lee (N/A) 71.8
14. Kyle Davis (Central Florida) 71.8
15. Daniel Woltman (Kentucky) 72
16. Seann Harlingten (N/A) 72.03
17. Tom Glissmeyer (Southern Cal.) 72.05
18. Adam Mitchell (Georgia) 72.15
19. Matt Fast (Mississippi St.) 72.16
20. Brian Locke (Loyola-Marymount) 72.17

GIRLS
1. Julieta Granada (N/A) 69.26
2. Tiffany Joh (UCLA) 71.28
3. Amanda Blumenherst (Duke) 71.29
4. Nannette Hill (Wake Forest) 71.45
5. Mallory Hetzel (Gerogia) 72.33
6. Sooji Cho (UNLV) 72.57
7. Jennie Lee (Duke) 72.75
8. Jennifer Hong (Northwesterm) 72.98
9. Grace Woo (UNLV) 73.01
10. Jennifer Osborn (Arizona St.) 73.14
11. Lauren Espinosa (Arizona) 73.19
12. Jacqui Concolino (Vanderbilt) 73.69
13. Stefanie Page (Texas A&M) 73.94
14. Amber Lundskog (Vandebilt) 74
15. Stephanie Connely (Ohio St.) 74.19
16. Nicole Smith (Tennessee)CA 74.43
17. Allison Goodman (California) 74.76
18. Mallory Blackwelder (Florida) 75.34
19. Shannon Yocum (California) 75.74
20. Ki-Shui Liao (Stanford) 75.89

Have an interesting junior note to report, or know an interesting junior we can profile?
E-mail Golfweek assistant editor Eric Soderstrom at esoderstrom@golfweek.com.

Have a question about the Golfweek/Titleist Performance Index? E-mail rankings@golfweek.com.