Argentina, USA Tied After Third Round at TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup
Americans shoot 6-under to catch first and second round leader
TOYOTA CITY, Japan – The United States shot 6-under par to catch Argentina for first place at the TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup supported by JAL. Argentina has either led or shared the tournament lead thru the first three rounds. The tournament was suspended for one hour and 57 minutes after the day's final group teed off on the 10th hole.
The Americans posted their first balanced team round with all four players at par or better and all three counters in red numbers. Brinson Paolini led the U.S. charge at 3-under while Jeffrey Kang was 2-under and T.J. Vogel went 1-under. Kang produced an up and down round with five birdies and three bogeys while Paolini and Vogel had one bogey each. Paolini's birdie on followed by Vogel's up-and-down for par allowed the U.S. to catch Argentina at 14-under for the tournament.
“The biggest factor to success in team golf is great balance and I think we showed that we have that today,” said USA Coach Doug Hamilton. “I felt like Brinson (Paolini) was going to have a coming out party today. I told him that and sure enough he did. I'm very happy for him and Jeffrey (Kang) to both get their feet under them and now all four of the guys are taking a lot of confidence into the last round tomorrow. Being tied for the lead, we need them all to play well, be involved and have the potential to be a counter.”
Early in the round it appeared that Argentina would extend its lead over the field after posting two birdies on the second hole but only managed two more birdies versus two bogeys on the front nine. Solid play on the back nine would move the team to 4-under for the round and 14-under for the tournament. Tomas Cocha produced his second-straight round in the 60s and was matched at 69 by Andres Schombaum. Jorge Fernandez Valdes was Argentina's third counter at even par.
England is four shots back of the co-leaders at 10-under while Chinese Taipei and Korea are tied for fourth at 8-under. They are followed b Japan (-7), Portugal (-5), Australia (-3) and Mexico. South Africa and Sweden are tied for 10th with a three-round total of 2-over 641 while Canada (+16), Norway (+20) and Uruguay (+29) complete the scoring.
Individually, Kyoung-Hoon Lee of Korea fired 66 to move into first-place at 8-under. Mexico's Santiago Gavino - the leader after both the first and second rounds - and Tomohiro Umeyama of Japan are one shot back tied for second. Cocha and Australia's Cameron Smith (-5) are tied for fourth. Choi Albin of Canada posted the low score of the tournament with 63.
For more information, visit www.wjgtc.org.
Team Results
T1. Argentina 208-208-209=625 (-14)
Ti. USA 211-207-207=625 (-14)
3. England 211-209-209=629 (-10)
T4. Chinese Taipei 211-206-214=631 (-8)
T4. Korea 217-205-209=631 (-8)
6. Japan 215-210-207=632 (-7)
7. Portugal 215-215-204=634 (-5)
8. Australia 216-209-211=636 (-3)
9. Mexico 208-213-216=637 (-2)
T10. South Africa 219-218-204=641 (+2)
T10. Sweden 215-217-209=641 (+2)
12. Canada 226-227-202=655 (+16)
13. Norway 218-225-216=659 (+20)
14. Uruguay 228-224-216=668 (+29)
Top 10 Individual Results
1. Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Korea 71-68-66=205 (-8)
T2. Santiago Gavino, Mexico 66-68-72=206 (-7)
T2. Tomohiro Umeyama, Japan 71-68-67=206 (-7)
T4. Tomas Cocha, Argentina 71-68-69=208 (-5)
T4. Cameron Smith, Australia 71-68-69=208 (-5)
T6. Evan Beck, USA 68-70-71=209 (-4)
T6. T.J. Vogel, USA 73-66-70=209 (-4)
T8. Chi-Hsien Hsieh, Chinese Taipei 74-67-69=210 (-3)
T8. Luke Humphries, Australia 70-68-72=210 (-3)
T8. Max Smith, England 71-71-68=210 (-3)
