PLAYER TO WATCH
Name: Arnond Vongvanij
Age: 16
Residence: Bradenton, Fla.
Golfweek/Titleist ranking: 4
Arnond Vongvanij sat at the scorer's table behind the 18th green at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla., July 29, trying his best to explain his latest accomplishment to his mother, who was standing about 25 yards away. He held up eight of his fingers, and then pointed down, while also mouthing "8 under!" Minutes earlier, the 16-year-old Vongvanij known as "Bank," drained a 30-footer for birdie from the fringe to finish off an eight-birdie, no-bogey round of 64, vaulting him to third place at the Hp Boys Junior Championship, an AJGA major. The 64 tied Vongvanij's career-low, which he shot previously in his U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier to advance to Longmeadow (Mass.) Country Club, where Vongvanij lost to eventual champion Kevin Tway in the semifinals. "The Junior helped a lot, it kind of kept me on track," said Vongvanij, an always-upbeat 16-year-old. "I'm feeling good about my game now." He wasn't feeling so good a few weeks back at the Western Junior, where he had to withdraw because of food poisoning he thinks he got from a milkshake. "On the back nine I could feel my energy start to drain," he said. So Vongvanij left early, returning to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, where he's been four years now, to rest up, recover and practice for the Junior. The unexpected break seemed to work, when Vongvanij shot rounds of 70-67 to finish tied for fourth in stroke play qualifying. He then earned match play victories (in this order) over Daniel Mollicone (3 and 2), Jonathan Bowers (2 and 1), Cameron Tringale (1 up) and Philip Francis (3 and 2), Golfweek's No. 1 ranked junior, before losing to Tway, 1 up. Vongvanij couldn't have come closer to the finals without making it, standing all square with Tway on the 18th tee. But he watched his chances fade away when he pushed his 12-foot birdie putt on 18 a little right. He knew had to make it, considering the 17-year-old Tway had stuck his approach to 5 feet. "He just outplayed me and he won it. He earned it, he played very well," said Vongvanij, who was probably the most gracious loser all week at the Junior. "I don't look at it like I lost, just that he beat me. Overall I'm pretty satisfied." Vongvanij's recent success didn't really hit him, however, until last Friday at Bay Hill. A few minutes after signing over his 64 and then giving his mother a hug, a reporter showed Vongvanij for the first time that he'd jumped eight spots in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings to No. 4. "Really?" said Vongvanij, who grabbed for the folded piece of paper. "I need to send this to my dad." Vongvanij's parents are from Thailand, but only his mother is here in America with him. His father, who runs a direct sales business, and brother and sister still live in Thailand. Vongvanij said they were keeping good tabs on him during the Junior, via internet and his mother's mobile phone. "Golf is very popular in Thailand," said Vongvanij, who was born in Hawaii when his parents were getting masters degrees. Vongvanij's mother actually took a final exam on finance and banking the evening before she delivered him. "So everyone was like, 'oh, he should be a banker, because he already knew everything,' " he said. "So 'Bank' it is." The nickname has never been more fitting. Because, as those teenagers like to say, his game right now is money.

NEWS AND NOTES

* Kyle Stanley closed with a 5-under 67 to win the Hp Boys Junior Championship at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla. Stanley, 17, finished at 12-under 276, five shots ahead of Josh Jones (72) of The Colony, Texas. Stanley put an end to some recent frustration with his July 29 victory at Bay Hill. He finished second at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, and missed out in his U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier by a shot.

"I was pretty hungry for this one," said Stanlety, of Gig Harbor, Wash., who is No. 29 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings "I'm pretty happy." Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, finished tied for ninth at his home course with rounds of 71-74-73-73­291. Saunders, who will attend Clemson in the fall of 2006, said his junior schedule is down to maybe one or two more AJGA events.

"I'm just going to focus on the amateur stuff," he said. "It's been fun, but I'm ready to move on." Stanley stayed all week at Saunders' house all week. The two are very good friends.

* Morgan Pressel had a hole-in-one and cruised to an 11-stroke victory at the McDonald's Betsy Rawls Girls Championship July 28 at White Manor Country Club in Malvern, Pa. The victory ­ Pressel's fifth consecutive in an American Junior Golf Association invitational ­ gave her what the junior organization calls the "Career AJGA Slam." Pressel's other victories came at the 2004 Rolex Tournament of Champions, the '04 Polo Golf Junior Classic, the '05 Thunderbird International Junior and the '05 Rolex Girls Junior Championship. She is the first player to accomplish the feat. Kellee Booth won four of the events in the early 1990s before the Thunderbird event began in 2000. "It's pretty important and exciting," said Pressel, who has a total of 11 AJGA titles. "I'm looking forward to moving on from here. I wouldn't be the player I am if it wasn't for my five years with the AJGA." The 17-year-old from Boca Raton, Fla., shot a final-round 71 that included an ace on the par-3 third hole. She finished with a 6-under 207 total to finish 11 ahead of Esther Choe of Scottsdale, Ariz. Pressel, runner-up at the U.S. Women's Open in June, plans to turn pro later this year but will first compete for the U.S. team at the Ping Junior Solheim Cup Sept. 5-7.

* (By Dave Seanor, Golfweek Editor) Benton Harbor, Mich. ­ Forget the Western Amateur's reputation as the toughest grind in golf. These days, it's child's play. Six teenagers breezed through 72 holes of stroke play in three days and qualified for the appropriately named "Sweet 16" matches at Point O'Woods Golf & Country Club. And one of them manhandled four older, more experienced opponents to emerge July 31 as the youngest winner in the event's 103-year history. Jamie Lovemark, 17, is a soft-spoken, lanky Californian who surfs in his free time. He caught a wave at the Western that washed over, in succession: >> Andres Gonzales, the medalist who had shot 72-68-70-67­277. Gonzales, a senior at UNLV, was the only man to have a lead against Lovemark, 1 up at the turn, before losing, 3 and 1.

* Danny Green, who is 31 years older than Lovemark and lists victories >> at the 1997 Western Amateur and the '99 U.S. Mid-Amateur among his many credits. He lost, 2 and 1. >> Luke List, the 2004 U.S. Amateur runner-up from Vanderbilt who came in No. 9 in the Golfweek/Titleist Amateur Rankings. He fell, 5 and 4.

* Chris Wilson, the reigning Ohio Amateur champion who plays for Northwestern. Wilson's reputation and confidence got a boost when he beat Andrew Dodt, a top Australian junior; Philip Francis, the nation's top-ranked junior; and Brad Iles, the top amateur in New Zealand, to reach the final against Lovemark, which he lost, 3 and 2. Lovemark, who lost in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior to David Chung, dismissed the suggestion that he lacked experience coming in. He won the Western Junior last summer, and with this victory became only the third player to have won the Western Junior and Western Amateur titles. (Bobby Clampett and Jim Wiechers are the others.) "I've won some pretty big junior events," he said. "You've got to learn how to win. Once you've won one time, the second time is easier." Yet Lovemark acknowledged he was apprehensive about facing such an accomplished field. His opening 69 in stroke play, he said, was a confidence builder. And certainly it was an omen when he holed a 100-foot-plus putt two days later to gain one of three spots in a five-man playoff for the "Sweet 16." After winning the 10th hole in Round 1 against Gonzales, he never trailed the rest of the weekend. No opponent took Lovemark past the 16th hole. Unlike many of today's junior prodigies, Lovemark is not the product of a full-time golf academy program. His swing is essentially self taught. He characterized himself as a "feel player" who likes to work things out by himself on the range when his swing gets loose. For example, Lovemark said he "didn't have the best ball-striking round" against Gonzales, so he put some practice time in between rounds. The result was five birdies and no bogeys that afternoon against Green. One person Lovemark didn't have to worry about was Michael Sim, the No. 1 player in the Golfweek/Titleist Amateur Rankings, who was second after 36 holes of stroke play. Sim careened to a third-round 77, then was the first man ousted from the playoff that Lovemark survived. In the final, Wilson lost the first hole and never got untracked against Lovemark. But his week was nonetheless gratifying. "I know I have the ability to be here," he said. "And I know I've worked hard enough to be where I am. It's good to finally see the results. . . . I feel like I can play with anybody right now in the country." Meanwhile, five other teens reached match play, proving they can hold their own, too.

* Jon McLean, 19, is the son of renowned instructor Jim McLean and a freshman at TCU. He was beaten by Green, 1 up, in Round 1.

* Randy Lowry, 18, is a Texas freshman and the reigning Houston City Amateur champ. He lost to List, 3 and 1, in Round 2.

* Francis, 16, from Scottsdale, Ariz., is No. 1 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings. He lost to Wilson in 22 holes in Round 2.

* Dodt, 19, shot a tournament-low 64 in Round 3. He lost to Wilson, 1 up, in Round 1.

* Seung-Su Han, 18, a freshman at UNLV, was the 2002 AJGA Player of the Year. He lost in Round 1 to Georgia senior Richard Scott, 1 up.

* For good measure, Rory Hie, a 16-year-old Californian (by way of Indonesia) who is No. 2 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, shot 66 and was alone in second place after Round 1. He shot 77 the next day and eventually missed the "Sweet 16" playoff by a shot. Assuming the teen trend continues, watch out for Hie in 2006.

* When 17-year-old Billy McKay reports in the coming weeks for his senior year, he'll have one experience none of his classmates at Grand Blanc High School can claim: He played in the Buick Open, on his home course. McKay set a competitive course record of 66 in Monday qualifying at Fieldstone in Auburn Hills, then opened the tournament at Warwick Hills with a round of 1-under 71 ­ including a hole-out from the fairway for eagle at the par-5 16th that made ESPN's "SportsCenter." For a day, he was tied with Tiger Woods. But on Friday his excellent adventure came to a crashing halt, as he struggled to a round of 84. "It was probably the worst round I've had in a year or so," he said, "but I still had fun." McKay is No. 96 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.

Short shots: Jun Seok Lee of South Korea shot a final-round 70 to win the Optimist International July 28 by two strokes. Kung finished at 71-71-76-70‹288. Pennapa Pulsawath of Patumthani, Thailand, won the girls' division by three. Her four-day total was 77-79-78-70‹304....Chappell Brown fired a of 6-under par 204 to win the boys 16-18 age division of the 51st Florida State Junior Championship at Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club in Tampa....Emma Jandel of Dayton, Ohio, defeated Piper Miller, Laguna Beach, California, 2 and 1, to win the Women's Western Golf Association Junior Championship....Rachel Morris of Carlsbad, Calif., won the Nike Golf Junior at Marshallia, winning on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Kristen Park of Buena Park, Calif. Dustin Rhone of Culver City, Calif., won the boys' division with rounds of 68-67-72--207. ... Glenn Northcutt, who will attend Auburn beginning this fall, closed with a competitive course record 11-under 61 to come back from five shots and win the 60th Alabama State Junior at Saugahatchee Country Club. Northcutt is No. 14 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.

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