Luis Thiele of BRAZIL (2008) fired a 2 under par opening round at the Leadbetter Open at IMG Academies Golf & Country Club. Thiele, a 2nd year FCWT player with two Top 3s this season, will be looking for his first win on Sunday. At the start of the final round his closest competitor will be Eduardo Chavez of Hillsborough, CA (2009). Chavez, a 5th year FCWT player, is just one stroke back after carding a one under par opening round. Eduardo, who has two top 10s so far this season, will also be looking for his first FCWT win. At even par (72), there are two players tied for 3rd: Oscar Sharpe of Cheltenham, ENGLAND (2010) who has already won twice this season and Seiji Liu of Beverly Hills, CA (2010), a first year FCWT player. Rocky Khara of Sebring, FL (2010) and Benjamin Murray of Toronto, CANADA (2009) will begin the final round tied for 5th at 73, just 3 strokes back of the leader Thiele. Four players will start tied for 7th at 74: Jake Shepherd of London, UK (2008), Cyril Suk of Bradenton, FL (2011), who won last weekend at Innisbrook, Yao-Chun Yang of Bradenton, FL (2009), and Zhong Yang Fu of Beijing, CHINA (2010). Chun Hung Chan of Bradenton, FL (2009), Marcel Puyat of the PHILIPPINES (2011) and Benjamin Palanszki of Budapest, HUNGARY (2010) are tied for 11th at 75 and just 5 strokes back of the leader with one round to play.
In the Boys 13-15 division, Kevin Giulini of Frankfurt, GERMANY (2011) and Sean Kelly of Staten Island, NY (2011) are set to battle it out on Sunday. Both players opened with rounds of 75 on Saturday. Giulini, who led in birdies with 3 on Saturday, won last weekend at Innisbrook and Kelly, who led in pars with 13, won in November at Champions Gate. In addition to each other, they will have to stay ahead of Nicholas Torrance of East Lyme, CT (2010), who has finished runner-up twice this season and has not finished lower than 6th in 5 starts, and 13 year old Andrew Ullman of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (2013), who is coming to his own in this division, are tied for 3rd at 76. Oliver Vaidis of Bradenton, FL (2012), who won the Mystic Dunes Open,is currently in 5th place at 78. Sawyer Huth of Calgary, AB, CANADA (2011), carded the only eagle of the day - an ACE on the par 3, 8th hole, using a 5 iron.
In the Boys 11-12 division, two-time FCWT winner 11 year old Daniel Jaramillo of COLOMBIA (2014) is looking to make it three wins this season. Jaramillo, who won the World Golf Village Open and the ASU Open, carded an opening round of 75 to lead all scores. He led this division in pars with 8 and birdies with 5 on Saturday and has a 7 stroke lead heading into Sunday's final round. Ten year old Jeffrey Cheung of Palos Verdes Estates, CA (2015) and 11 year old Rigel Fernandes of Dubai, UAE (2013) are currently tied for 2nd at 82.
Sally Watson of Earlsferry, SCOTLAND (2009) fired a 3 under par 69 at the IMG Academies Golf & Country Club to take the first round lead of the Leadbetter Open in the Girls 13-18 division. Sally, a 2nd year FCWT player, finished 2nd at the IMG Championship last April when she fired a closing round of 69. Earlier this season she finished 2nd at the World Woods event, but will be looking for her first FCWT win on Sunday. Just one stroke back of Miss Watson is Dottie Ardina of the Philippines (2012), who won the Eagle Creek event and finished 3rd at the ASU Open in December. Miss Ardina's 4 birdies allowed her to post a round of 2 under 70 on Saturday that puts her 2 strokes ahead of a threesome tied for 3rd. Victoria Kiser of Orlando, FL (2010), who has 3 wins and 5 Top fives already this season, Jessica Korda of Bradenton, FL (2011), who won at Bobcat Trail and has two Top 5s, and Giulia Molinaro of Torino, ITALY (2008), who won at Westchase and finished runner-up at Champions Gate, will begin the final round at even par and tied for third. Miss Molinaro led this division in birdies with 5 and Miss Kiser led in pars on Saturday with 16. Shannon Pak of New Orleans, LA (2011) will start in 6th place on Sunday while Ginger Howard of Bradenton, FL (2012), Laetitia Beck of Caesarea, ISRAEL (2010) and Christina Miller of Bradenton, FL (2010) will start tied for 7th at 77. Two players are tied for 10th at 79. Most of these young ladies know this golf course well, so any one could go low on Sunday.
In the Girls 14 and under division, Stephanie Liu of St. Albans, MO (2015) leads Nelly Korda of Bradenton, FL (2016) by one stroke. Both young ladies have already won this season, so it should be a great finish. |
