TOURNAMENT RECAPS

Event: Junior Ryder Cup Matches
Course: Westfield Group CC
When: Sept. 10-12
Where: Westfield Center, Ohio.
Winner: Europe, 8 1/2-3 1/2
Skinny: The European Junior Ryder Cup team came out strong on Sept. 11 and followed with four more points on the second day to win the 2004 Junior Ryder Cup Matches, 8 1/2 to 3 1/2.
The European team won the first three matches with Luis Garcia del Moral and Carlota Ciganda, Zach Gould and Belen Mozo, and Oliver Fisher and Florentyna Parker. Europe then won its eighth and final point in the last match with Dominic Angkawidjaja and Valerie Sternebeck.
''Our team worked as hard as I wanted them to. They all performed very well and up to their abilities. I couldn't have asked more from any of them,'' said European Junior Ryder Cup Captain Andy Ingram. ''Our team worked well together. I never anticipated them getting as many birdies as they had. They really have played unbelievably well.''
- For more, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/

Event: AJGA Ashworth Junior at Rancho Mirage
Course: The Westin Mission Hills Resort (Gary Player Course)
When: Sept. 10-12
Where: Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Winner: Blake Yu, Alameda, Calif. (69-69--138)
Runners-up: Christopher Cunningham, San Diego (70-72--142); Kellen Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii (69-73--142)
Skinny: ''I am definitely the happiest person here,'' said Blake Yu of Alameda, Calif., immediately after his four-shot victory in the Ashworth Junior at Rancho Mirage. Two sub-70 rounds in the junior ranks generally garner such emotion. Entering the final-round tied with Kellen Watabu, Yu didn't begin to pull away until No. 12, where he drained a 30-footer for birdie and Watabu three-putted for bogey. Yu played the remaining six holes in even par, Watabu in 3 over, for the victory. ''I putted really well,'' said Yu, who finished with rounds of 69-69. ''Whenever I made a bogey I was able to recover on the next hole with a birdie. I stayed focus on what was ahead of me all week, rather than thinking about the last mistake.''
Watabu tied for second with Christopher Cunningham at 142.
- For complete results, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/

LEVY: MIMICKING RYDER CUP
FORMAT HONES MENTAL SKILLS

It's getting close to that time again. Four times a year the golf world comes together to play its major tournaments, which we all cherish and love. But every other September there's an event that brings out patriotic spirit like no other: the Ryder Cup.

If you've never participated in match play before, then you haven't yet explored your game's deepest secrets.
- For more, visit www.golfweek.com/articles/2004/juniorgolf/boys/40393.asp

NEWS AND NOTES

* Golfweek's new junior rankings which utilize a 52-week, rolling window debuted Sept. 16 with 2003 U.S. Junior champion Brian Harman and In-Bee Park atop each rating.

Golfweek switched to a rolling window for its Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings in order to create a more accurate junior golf ranking.

To be ranked a junior must play six ranked tournaments within a 52-week window.

• Click here for boys rankings.
• Click here for girls rankings.

* After jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the opening-day four-ball matches, Ireland held on to defeat Canada 9 1/2 to 6 1/2 in the Ryder Cup-style Canada-Ireland Junior Golf Challenge. Canada made a charge in the singles matches -- it was either winning or tied in five matches at one point -- but managed only a 4 1/2-3 1/2 edge in the end.

* Golfweek will hold the second annual Golfweek Junior Invitational presented by Aldila Oct. 15-17 at Sea Trail Golf Resort in Sunset Beach, N.C. The 54-hole event will feature the top-ranked players in the Golfweek/Titleist Performance Index. To be eligible, juniors must not have reached their 19th birthday by Sept. 16 and must be full-time high school students. For more information, call Golfweek tournament coordinator Eliza Folsom at 877-805-4653 or e-mail efolsom@golfweek.com.

* The PGA of America announced its players of the year for the 2004 Callaway Golf PGA Junior Series. Emily Powers, 16, of Quincy, Ill., claimed her third consecutive Player of the Year honor, her first in the girls' 16-17-age division. Chase MacFarland, 17, of Savannah, Ga., was honored in the boys' 16-17 division, Josh Dupont, 15, of Poway, Calif., in the boys' 13-15 division and Tessa Teachman, 14, of Webster, N.Y., in the girls' 13-15 division.

* Bart Barnes of Elba, Ala., and Kyle Sullivan of Alexander City, Ala., have been awarded the inaugural Brad Willis Memorial College Golf Scholarships. They were honored earlier this month at the inaugural Brad Willis Memorial Junior at Wynlakes Country Club in Montgomery, Ala., which was conceived, organized and hosted by Zess Willis, in honor of his son, Brad, who was killed last fall in an automobile accident.

GIRLS
1. In-Bee Park 69.45
2. Julieta Granada 69.78
3. Morgan Pressel 70.01
4. Angela Park 71.18
5. Jennie Lee 71.39
6. Esther Choe 71.41
7. Amanda Blumenherst 71.49
8. Mallory Hetzel 71.88
9. Tiffany Joh 71.95
10. Mina Harigae 72.01
11. Taylor Leon 72.47
12. Sydney Burlison 72.65
13. Nannette Hill 72.80
14. Catherina Wang 73.16
15. Sooji Cho 73.23
16. Megan Grehan 73.38
17. Lauren Espinosa 73.55
18. Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff 73.81
19. Jennifer Osborn 73.88
20. Jennifer Hong 74.12
21. Allison Goodman 74.22
22. Grace Woo 74.23
23. Stefanie Page 74.24
24. Marika Lendl 74.49
25. So-Hyun Park 74.74
- For complete rankings, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/ratings/girls.asp

THIS WEEK IN GOLFWEEK
Get an update on New Zealand amateur Bradley Iles who nearly died two months ago following a golf cart injury after the Players Amateur in South Carolina.

POLL QUESTION
With nearly $8.7 million in earnings Vijay Singh is on pace to become the first PGA Tour player to earn $10 million in a single season. With five events remaining on his schedule, will Singh surpass the $10M plateau?

Have an interesting junior note to report, or know an interesting junior we can profile?
E-mail Golfweek assistant editor Beth Ann Baldry at bbaldry@golfweek.com.

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