By RAY McCARTHY
Assistant EditorREUNION, Fla. – Senioritis is a common affliction that infects high school seniors during the latter portion of their year. Symptoms include not doing homework, cutting classes and a general, pervasive attitude of not caring.
Rare is the instance when a senior works overtime to attend college early. Jaclyn Sweeney, a high school senior who attends the IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Brandenton, Fla., is cramming four hours of personal training, six hours of golf, and a nightcap of schoolwork every day so she can enter Oklahoma State a semester early in January.
Playing in her last junior tournament at the Polo Golf Junior Classic, Sweeney shot a 2-under 70 in Monday’s first round and finished the day tied for third. According to Sweeney, the round is just one of many that has prepared her for an eagerly-awaited career at OSU.
“I was itching to get out of (Bradenton),” said Sweeney, No. 17 in the
Golfweek/Titleist rankings. “I’m so excited. I have a lot of goals in college that I want to reach and achieve.”
Sweeney is in a three-way tie with Jennifer Johnson and Kyndall Ardoin. Danielle Frasier, who shot 3-under 69, is in second while
Golfweek’s top-ranked junior, Kimberly Kim, leads after carding a bogey-free 5-under 67.
A tie for ninth at the Rolex Girls Junior and a tie for fifth at the Ping Junior at The Woodlands were Sweeney’s best finishes this summer, but two agonizing close calls could have diverted Sweeney’s path to OSU.
In July, Sweeney played in the Weetabix Women’s British Open pre-qualifier and shot a 74 on the New Course at St. Andrews. She three-putted for bogey on the first hole of a 14-for-12 playoff, parred the next and was placed on the alternate list. She never made it into the final field.
In September, Sweeney shot a first-round 71 at the first stage of LPGA Q-School and was primed to make the cut. Six consecutive bogeys to finish her second round gave Sweeney an 80. She missed the cut by a shot.
“It showed me what I really have to work on,” Sweeney said. “When you feel like your shirt is closing in on your throat, it was a great feeling to have to go to my mental coach and say, ‘How can I fix this?’ ”
Oklahoma State women’s coach Laura Matthews welcomes Sweeney to a team loaded with potential. OSU’s incoming freshman class includes Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, who tied for ninth at this year’s Thunderbird, and Germany’s Caroline Masson, a member of Europe’s 2005 Ping Junior Solheim Cup team.
“I knew that (Sweeney) wanted to get to college a little sooner,” Matthews said. “It worked out that we had a spot, and she liked what she saw.”
Hedwall will become the third Swedish Cowgirl when she joins OSU’s roster next year. Along with Pernilla Lindberg and Karin Kinnerud, Hedwall comprises a rapidly expanding OSU Swedish contingent.
“I’ve played with Pernilla and Karin a lot,” said Hedwall, who lost to Stephanie Kono in the quarterfinals of last year’s Polo. “I thought it would be good to have them there the first year so I can learn from them.”
Hedwall shot a first-round 73 and stands in a tie for 16th.
In the boys division, U.S. Junior champion Cory Whitsett and Luke Guthrie are tied for the first-round lead at 6-under 66.
Whitsett, No. 7 in the
Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, made the turn in 2 under and closed with four consecutive birdies. Whitsett has two top-10 finishes in AJGA invitationals this year – a tie for third at FootJoy Boys and a fifth-place finish at the Ping Invitational.
Guthrie poured in seven birdies Monday, and played bogey-free on his back nine. Guthrie won earlier this year at the Rand Graphics-Wildcat Golf Wichita Junior Championship and placed third at the Rolex Tournament of Champions.
“I thought the scores would be low because there are a lot of good players here,” said Guthrie, who will attend Illinois next year. “It was good to get off to a hot start.”
One shot back in a tie for third are Bo Andrews and Alex Kang. Six players are tied in fifth at 4 under. Defending champion Morgan Hoffmann finished the day with an even-par 72.
• • •
Ray McCarthy is a
Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him email
rmccarthy@golfweek.com.
Scores with relation to par from the first round of the Polo Golf Junior Classic, played Nov. 19 at the par-72, 6,936-yard Legacy Course (boys) and par-72, 6,263-yards Independence Course (girls) at Ginn Reunion (Fla.) Resort:
| GIRLS |
|
|
|
|
| 1. Kimberly Kim |
67 |
|
|
-5 |
| 2. Danielle Frasier |
69 |
|
|
-3 |
| 3. Jaclyn Sweeney |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 3. Jennifer Johnson |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 3. Kyndall Ardoin |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 6. Courtney Gunter |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 6. Mitsuki Katahira |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 6. Lindy Duncan |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 9. Lauren Weaver |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 9. Pearl Jin |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 9. Mina Harigae |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 9. Tiffany Lua |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 9. Evan Jensen |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 9. Vicky Hurst |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 9. Marina Alex |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 16. Elisa Aoki |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Sydney Burlison |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Milena Savich |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Caroline Hedwall |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Sue Kim |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Kristen Park |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Stacey Kim |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Tessa Teachman |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Julie Yang |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Katie Sylvan |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 16. Kaori Ohe |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 27. Margarita Ramos |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Katy Nugent |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Lindsey Weaver |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Marta Silva Zamora |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Lisa McCloskey |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Marika Lendl |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Allie White |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Sarah Brown |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Joy Kim |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 27. Rachel Morris |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 37. Lila Barton |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Michelle Shin |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Kristina Wong |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Jenny Shin |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Alexis Thompson |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Crystal Reeves |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Meredith Swanson |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Courtney Ellenbogen |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 37. Casey Ann Kennedy |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 46. Jane Rah |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 46. Andrea Watts |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 46. Chelsey Cothran |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 46. Stephanie Kono |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 46. Mary Michael Maggio |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 46. Haley Sanders |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 52. Jessica Wallace |
77 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 52. Won Joo Choi |
77 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 52. Brianna Do |
77 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 52. Doris Chen |
77 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 56. Hannah Collier |
78 |
|
+ |
6 |
| 56. Eunae Jo |
78 |
|
+ |
6 |
| 56. Haley Millsap |
78 |
|
+ |
6 |
| 56. Cheyenne Woods |
78 |
|
+ |
6 |
| 56. Sarah Salvo |
78 |
|
+ |
6 |
| 61. Kendall Martindale |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 61. Kamryn Ruffin |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 61. Isabelle Lendl |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 61. Louise Larsson |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 61. Lee Lopez |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 66. Ellie Arkin |
80 |
|
+ |
8 |
| 66. Austin Ernst |
80 |
|
+ |
8 |
| 66. Sally Watson |
80 |
|
+ |
8 |
| 66. Kelly Shon |
80 |
|
+ |
8 |
| 66. Stephanie Wagstaff |
80 |
|
+ |
8 |
| 71. Kaira Martin |
81 |
|
+ |
9 |
| 71. Julia Thead |
81 |
|
+ |
9 |
| 71. MacKinzie Kline |
81 |
|
+ |
9 |
| 74. Lalita Patipaksiri |
83 |
|
+ |
11 |
| 75. Heather Smith |
84 |
|
+ |
12 |
| 76. Christine Cho |
86 |
|
+ |
14 |
| 77. Brooke Bettis |
88 |
|
+ |
16 |
| 78. Kiara Hayashida |
90 |
|
+ |
18 |
BOYS |
|
|
|
|
| 1. Luke Guthrie |
66 |
|
|
-6 |
| 1. Cory Whitsett |
66 |
|
|
-6 |
| 3. Bo Andrews |
67 |
|
|
-5 |
| 3. Alex Kang |
67 |
|
|
-5 |
| 5. Bud Cauley |
68 |
|
|
-4 |
| 5. Pontus Widegren |
68 |
|
|
-4 |
| 5. Gregor Main |
68 |
|
|
-4 |
| 5. William Kropp |
68 |
|
|
-4 |
| 5. Mu Hu |
68 |
|
|
-4 |
| 5. Minghao Wang |
68 |
|
|
-4 |
| 5. Matthew Schovee |
68 |
|
|
-4 |
| 12. Bjorn Akesson |
69 |
|
|
-3 |
| 12. Michael Jae Woo Im |
69 |
|
|
-3 |
| 12. Josh Jones |
69 |
|
|
-3 |
| 12. Brooks Koepka |
69 |
|
|
-3 |
| 12. David Chung |
69 |
|
|
-3 |
| 12. Sean Einhaus |
69 |
|
|
-3 |
| 18. James Kwon |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Jace Long |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Geoffrey Shaw |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Zeyu He |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Tommy Chung Hao Mou |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Ramsey Sahyoun |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Peter Uihlein |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Alex Shi Yup Kim |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Erik Mayer |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 18. Maximilian Kieffer |
70 |
|
|
-2 |
| 28. Robbie Ziegler |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 28. Mark Pollak |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 28. Wesley Graham |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 28. Mauricio Azcue |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 28. Anders Kristiansen |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 28. Jeffrey Kang |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 28. Taylor Travis |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 28. Sean Dale |
71 |
|
|
-1 |
| 36. Masahiro Kawamura |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Mitchell Gray |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Sean Brannan |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Andrew Yun |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Austin Cody |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Brinson Paolini |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Andrew Colvin |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Joseph Barr |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 36. Morgan Hoffmann |
72 |
|
|
E |
| 45. Yao-Chun Yang |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Christopher Walker |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Hyun Seok Lim |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Rak Cho |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Ty Spinella |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Sang Yi |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Anthony Paolucci |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Aaron Fitzpatrick |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 45. Michael Yiu |
73 |
|
+ |
1 |
| 54. Shane Lebow |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 54. Sam Chien |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 54. Blayne Barber |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 54. David Sanders |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 54. Cody Gribble |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 54. Sam Braver |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 54. Michael Cromie |
74 |
|
+ |
2 |
| 61. Chan Kim |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 61. Dong Su |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 61. Alex Frankel |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 61. Christopher Cho |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 61. Hunter Hamrick |
75 |
|
+ |
3 |
| 66. Pete Kellermann |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 66. Spencer Anderson |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 66. Paul Mitzel |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 66. Adam Wennerstrom |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 66. Brock Wilson |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 66. Will Ovenden |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 66. Wilson Bowen |
76 |
|
+ |
4 |
| 73. Cory Mehl |
77 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 73. Brandon Dalinka |
77 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 73. Stephen Scialo |
77 |
|
+ |
5 |
| 76. Hojin Kang |
78 |
|
+ |
6 |
| 77. Jordan Lee |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 77. Benjamin Cohen |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 77. Patrick Reed |
79 |
|
+ |
7 |
| 80. Jeff Hatten |
80 |
|
+ |
8 |
| 81. Tommy Higham |
81 |
|
+ |
9 |
| 81. Sam Jandel |
81 |
|
+ |
9 |
Posted: 11/19/2007
print
email
discuss
