June 9, 2005
PLAYERS TO WATCH NEWS AND NOTES
NUMBER CRUNCHING
Have a question about the Golfweek/Titleist Performance Index? E-mail rankings@golfweek.com.
Name: Jim Liu
Age: 9
Residence: Smithtown, N.Y.
Golfweek/Titleist ranking: N/A
The Skinny: There are certain things you must know nowadays as a 9-year-old. For Jim Liu, a fourth-grader at Forest Brook Elementary School in Smithtown, N.Y., one of those things is this: "Only one person in my class doesn't like SpongeBob," he says, quite matter-of-factly.
And it's not Liu.
He watches SpongeBob, the latest cartoon craze on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon, religiously.
He is, however, alone among peers when it comes to golf. He's surely the only kid in his class who looks up to Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan, gets lessons from Tiger Woods' old swing coach (John Anselmo), and got a mention recently on ESPN's SportsCenter for shooting a 59 May 28 in the Plantations Junior Golf Tour Championship at Disney's Lake Buena Vista Resort.
"He liked it (golf) right away," said Yiming Liu, 42, of his son, who also has two U.S. Kids national titles and one Pepsi Little People's crown. "He loves it, he caught me and then it was like a piece of cake for him."
When you first meet Jim Liu, all nearly 5 feet of him, he hides behind a shield of shyness like most young children. But as the minutes go by, Liu warms up, and you begin to get a taste of the real (not just little) person he is -- absolutely courteous and intelligent, not to mention sneakily witty.
About a month before his 59, Liu traded in his old Scotty Cameron putter for the new Scotty Newport 2. But the week before the PJGT Championship, he seemed to be struggling on the greens, and Liu's father thought his son ought to revert back to his old flat stick for the tournament.
"I told him 'you're not making any putts,' " said Yiming, but his son didn't listen.
After rolling his final birdie putt on 18 at the Lake Buena Vista Resort, the never-outspoken Liu walked up to his father (who caught every one of his son's 59 strokes on his video camera) and asked, "What do you think of my new putter?"
The modified 4,300 yard-layout may have fallen somewhat on the short side, but as every golfer knows, you still have roll the ball into the cup.
Liu's round consisted of 25 putts (11 on the front, 14 on the back), 18 greens in regulation, nine birdies and two eagles.
The next day, after his final-round 66 (for a nine-shot victory in his division), Liu stood around in the scoreboard area dealing with the same, less-humorous joke, over and over and over.
All went something like this: "Sixty-six? Rough day. Shake it off, Jim."
Each time Liu laughed, trying as fast as he could to rejoin conversations with his peers. The night before at the tournament banquet, some of the same kids had asked Liu for his autograph. "Someone asked me once before last year, but that's it," Liu said.
Luckily, he was prepared. At Forest Brook Elementary, cursive is taught in the third grade.
• Bronson Burgoon's booming 340-yard drive down the first playoff hole set up his second AJGA victory May 30 at the Thunderbird International Junior. The Texan knew he had to come up with something special against a red-hot Jamie Lovemark, who entered the final round with a six-shot advantage over Burgoon after back-to-back 66s.
Lovemark birdied his 54th hole to shoot 74 and finish tied with Burgoon (68) at 10-under 206.
On the first playoff hole, Burgoon's substantial poke down the 521-yard, par-5 allowed him to reach the 18th green in two. He then calmly two-putted for birdie to win his second AJGA title of the year.
"That was the biggest drive of my life," said Burgoon, who's headed to Texas A&M in the fall. "I'm really lost for words. I thought there was an outside chance I would be able to contend today, but I really didn't think I was actually going to win; especially with how well Jamie (Lovemark) was playing." Peter Uihlein closed with consecutive 68s to finish third at 207, while Philip Francis closed with 67 to place fourth.
• Morgan Pressel continued her 2005 hot streak with a come-from-behind victory May 30 at the Thunderbird International Junior. Golfweek's top-ranked junior and amateur closed with a 2-under 70 at Grayhawk Golf Club to edge Azahara Munoz (72) by one stroke.
Pressel, who has won three of the last four AJGA tournaments she's entered, shot 70-69-70 for a 7-under 209 tally.
"To come out on top after such a long week, it means a lot," said Pressel. "It's an AJGA major, it's a really prestigious event. Today, I played really well from tee to green."
Pressel, 17, has played in three LPGA events so far this season and has made the cut in each, finishing tied for 19th at the Kraft Nabisco in March, and tied for 19th and 23rd, respectively, in the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill and Chick-fil-A Charity in May.
While she began the day one stroke back of Spain's Munoz, Pressel found herself trailing by four after four holes Monday. A patient Pressel, however, birdied Nos. 7-9 to pull back into contention.
"It got away from me a bit, but I told myself to stay patient and it would come," Pressel said.
Mina Harigae closed with her second consecutive 71 to finish alone in third.
• Eighteen year-old amateur Julieta Granada made the cut June 3 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, her second made-cut in three LPGA events this season. Granada, who finished the ShopRite tied for 27th place at even-par 212, also made the cut at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (T-30, 6-over-par 294). She missed the cut at the Sybase Classic.
Short shots Taylore Karle, 14, of Scottsdale, Ariz. posted a final-round 4-under 68 for a 73-74-68-215 total to win the girls FCWT Championship May 28.... Seath Lauer of Bradenton, Fla., (70-72-69--211) beat Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif., in a playoff to win the boys division.... Matthew Hammock of Hinesville, Ga., used rounds of 69-68--137 to win the PJGT Championship at Walt Disney World Resort. Aimee Neff of Carmel, Ind. won the girls division with a 78-81--159 total....Hannah Yun, 13, of Bradenton, Fla., shot a 5-under-par 67 on the final day of the Nike Golf Junior at Las Cruces to win by three strokes....Matt Leon fired rounds of 72-70-69--211 (5 under) to win the Ontario Junior Masters.
Hsiao-Ching Lu has made her debut in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings at No. 3. Lu, who has placed in the top 10 in all six events, is averaging 72.94 in 18 rounds. Most recently she placed sixth at the AJGA Thunderbird International.
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.