Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By RAY McCARTHY
Assistant Editor

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The rivalry rolls on.

The ongoing duel between top-ranked Alexis Thompson and fifth-ranked Victoria Tanco continued in the first round of the Rolex Tournament of Champions on Wednesday.

Tanco, playing alongside Thompson, shot 6-under 66 to take a three-shot lead over the field and five-shot lead over Thompson.

“It’s golf, you can always play better,” the soft-spoken Argentine said of her round.

Tanco had no bogeys and six birdies on her round.

Thompson’s round could have been a lot better, but the 2008 U.S. Girls’ Junior champ closed with a two-putt birdie on No. 18 and gritted out a 1-under 71.

The rivalry between the two dates back all the way to last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior, where Thompson topped Tanco, 4 and 3, in the Round of 16. By year’s end, they were flip-flopping the No. 1 and 2 spots in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.

Tanco exacted some revenge on her counterpart at the Junior Orange Bowl in December. After Thompson bogeyed the 72nd hole to slip into a playoff, Tanco made par on the fifth hole of sudden death to top Thompson for the trophy.

It was only fitting that they be paired together in the first round of Rolex.

“It’s good to play with her,” Thompson said. “She played awesome today. It was like there was a magnet in the ball.”

Tanco’s focus remained on her round.

“I try to focus on my game and not think about (anyone else),” she said.

From Rolex, the two will travel to Bethlehem, Pa. next week for the U.S. Women’s Open. Thompson, 14, will be playing in her third Women’s Open, while Tanco, 15, is playing in her second.

“Last year, I was determined to do good,” said Thompson, who missed the cut by two shots. “I feel like since I’ve done it before I can do a lot better this year.”

Tanco, who missed the cut by five, left an impression on the galleries when she holed out a 150-yard shot for eagle on the ninth hole at Interlachen.

“I’m going to try to play my best and make the cut,” she said. “This is my second time so I’m going to try to be more patient this time.”

Whether they’re paired together or not, you can be sure these two will be watching each other.

• • •

Michael Weaver is hot and taking advantage of it.

Weaver, fresh off a win at the ClubCorp Mission Hills Desert Junior last week, shot 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead after the first round.

He made six birdies to go along with a lone bogey.

Weaver cruised to his title at Mission Hills, winning by four despite a final-round 73. He shot a 7-under 65 in the first round and followed with a 68 in the second round.

Can Weaver – who will attend Cal in the fall – do it here?

Twelve players are within three shots of his lead.

• • •

Ray McCarthy is a Golfweek assistant editor. To contact him email rmccarthy@golfweek.com.

---

Scores with relation to par from the first round of the Rolex Tournament of Champions, played at the par-72, 7,282-yard (6,233 yards for girls) Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.:

BOYS

1. Michael Weaver	33-34--67		-5
2. Johnathan Schnitzer	33-35--68		-4
2. Talor Gooch	32-36--68		-4
4. Austin Cook	34-35--69		-3
4. Jeffrey Kang	34-35--69		-3
4. T.J. Vogel	36-33--69		-3
7. Yaroslav Merkulov	36-34--70		-2
7. Gavin Hall	36-34--70		-2
7. Zhong Yang Fu	35-35--70		-2
7. Justin Thomas	34-36--70		-2
7. Byeong-hun An	35-35--70		-2
7. Billy Kennerly	33-37--70		-2
7. Blake Morris	35-35--70		-2
14. Kevin Gillick	34-37--71		-1
14. Robert Register	36-35--71		-1
14. Jay Vandeventer	37-34--71		-1
14. Adam Sumrall	35-36--71		-1
14. Anthony Paolucci	35-36--71		-1
14. Chris Worrell	36-35--71		-1
14. Patrick Cantlay	35-36--71		-1
14. Tom Lovelady	37-34--71		-1
14. Joaquin Lolas	35-36--71		-1
14. Blake Biddle	36-35--71		-1
14. Curtis Thompson	35-36--71		-1
14. Michael Yiu	34-37--71		-1
14. Eduardo Castiello	34-37--71		-1
14. Nicholas Losole III	34-37--71		-1
28. Matthew Ceravolo	36-36--72		E
28. Shawn Yim	37-35--72		E
28. Kyle Kmiecik	37-35--72		E
28. Ramsey Sahyoun	35-37--72		E
28. Kramer Hickok	34-38--72		E
28. Colton Staggs	36-36--72		E
34. Smylie Kaufman	40-33--73	+	1
34. C.J. Kim	37-36--73	+	1
34. Patrick Rodgers	37-36--73	+	1
34. Brandon Rodgers	36-37--73	+	1
34. Shun Yat Hak	37-36--73	+	1
34. Emiliano Grillo	38-35--73	+	1
40. Anton Arboleda	35-39--74	+	2
40. Richard Werenski	41-33--74	+	2
40. Ryan Zech	39-35--74	+	2
40. Zachary Herr	34-40--74	+	2
40. Mike Genovese	35-39--74	+	2
40. Daniel Lee	37-37--74	+	2
40. Michael Cromie	37-37--74	+	2
40. Juan Pablo Hernandez	36-38--74	+	2
40. Jim Liu	35-39--74	+	2
40. Michael Sorenson	40-34--74	+	2
50. Alex Edfort	37-38--75	+	3
50. Landon Tujague	40-35--75	+	3
50. Alberto Sanchez	36-39--75	+	3
50. Kevin Phelan	36-39--75	+	3
50. Lucas Bjerregaard	40-35--75	+	3
50. Will Pearson	37-38--75	+	3
50. Stewart Hagestad	36-39--75	+	3
50. M.J. Maguire	39-36--75	+	3
50. Austin Roberts	38-37--75	+	3
59. Cody Kent	38-38--76	+	4
59. Joey Garber	36-40--76	+	4
59. Shane Lebow	37-39--76	+	4
62. Zachary Balit	37-40--77	+	5
62. Logan McCracken	38-39--77	+	5
62. Landon Lyons	36-41--77	+	5
62. Curtis Reed	39-38--77	+	5
62. Ian McConnell	40-37--77	+	5
67. Trent Hillis	36-42--78	+	6
67. Franco Castro	38-40--78	+	6
67. Andrew Presley	42-36--78	+	6
70. Seth Reeves	40-39--79	+	7
70. Jesse Droemer	38-41--79	+	7
70. Dominic Bozzelli	41-38--79	+	7
70. Rak Cho	41-38--79	+	7
74. Davis Lee	37-43--80	+	8
75. Patrick Winther	42-39--81	+	9
76. Jay Burlison	44-39--83	+	11
76. Patrick Grimes	39-44--83	+	11
DQ. Tye Beall	DQ	+
GIRLS
1. Victoria Tanco	32-34--66		-6
2. Nicole Zhang	35-34--69		-3
3. Austin Ernst	33-37--70		-2
3. Ani Gulugian	35-35--70		-2
3. Doris Chen	36-34--70		-2
3. Victoria Sungmin Park	35-35--70		-2
7. Alexis Thompson	34-37--71		-1
7. Jennifer Johnson	34-37--71		-1
7. Annie Park	35-36--71		-1
7. Michelle Yang	36-35--71		-1
7. Emilie Burger	35-36--71		-1
12. Luz Alejandra Cangrejo	36-36--72		E
12. Emily Tubert	36-36--72		E
12. Kyung Kim	33-39--72		E
12. Kendall Martindale	36-36--72		E
12. Maria Piccio	35-37--72		E
17. Amelia Lewis	37-36--73	+	1
17. Grace Na	38-35--73	+	1
17. Hana Lee	36-37--73	+	1
17. Lauren Weaver	36-37--73	+	1
17. Tessa The	36-37--73	+	1
22. Danielle Frasier	37-37--74	+	2
22. Jennifer Yang	38-36--74	+	2
22. Simin Feng	38-36--74	+	2
22. Rachel Morris	37-37--74	+	2
22. Kyle Roig	36-38--74	+	2
22. Karen Chung	37-37--74	+	2
22. Ginger Howard	39-35--74	+	2
22. Shannon Aubert	37-37--74	+	2
22. Casey Grice	38-36--74	+	2
31. Jenny Shin	37-38--75	+	3
31. Erynne Lee	38-37--75	+	3
31. Lindsey Weaver	38-37--75	+	3
31. Christina Miller	38-37--75	+	3
31. Kelly Shon	36-39--75	+	3
31. Meredith Swanson	37-38--75	+	3
37. Emma Talley	36-40--76	+	4
38. Yueer Cindy Feng	38-39--77	+	5
38. Esther Lee	38-39--77	+	5
38. Alexandra Stewart	37-40--77	+	5
38. Beverly Vatananugulkit	39-38--77	+	5
38. Valentina Fontaine	37-40--77	+	5
38. Kelli Oride	38-39--77	+	5
44. Elizabeth Brightwell	39-39--78	+	6
44. Kristen Park	38-40--78	+	6
44. Michelle Butler	38-40--78	+	6
44. Emma Lavy	39-39--78	+	6
44. Kayli Quinton	38-40--78	+	6
44. Amy Ruengmateekhun	39-39--78	+	6
44. Regina Rosas Lopez Yañez	36-42--78	+	6
51. Katrina Hegge	41-38--79	+	7
51. Veronica Valerio	39-40--79	+	7
51. Amy Meier	40-39--79	+	7
51. Courtney McKim	38-41--79	+	7
55. Laura Camila Blanco Trujillo	38-42--80	+	8
55. Tiffany Lim	41-39--80	+	8
55. Natalie Reeves	39-41--80	+	8
55. Bonnie Hu	40-40--80	+	8
59. Casey Ann Kennedy	41-40--81	+	9
59. Kristina Nhim	40-41--81	+	9
59. Brigitte Baker	38-43--81	+	9
62. Kaitlyn Rohrback	39-43--82	+	10
62. Cassie Rushing	42-40--82	+	10
64. Marika Liu	39-44--83	+	11
64. Olivia Chang	38-45--83	+	11
66. Emily Gimpel	44-42--86	+	14

Posted: 7/1/2009

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