Ben Itterman of Carlsbad, CA (2010), the defending Champion of this event, is setting the pace again this year. Itterman fired a 2 under par 70 on Saturday and leads
Chris Russo of Westlake Village, CA (2009) by one shot heading into the final round. The 16-year old Itterman is playing in his first event of the season. Russo, who carded the only eagle on Saturday in this division, finished T7 at the Mission Hills Challenge in December and will be looking to earn his first win on Sunday in this his 2nd season with the FCWT. Also in the hunt for the PGA West title will be
Chris Gilbert of Simi Valley, CA (2009). Gilbert, a 3rd season FCWT player, finished T3 at the Classic Club earlier this season.
Joshua Granger of Monrovia, CA (2009) will start in 4th place at 73. Seven players are tied for 5th at 74: Christopher Kim of Northridge, CA (2009), Matthew Reinders of San Anselmo, CA (2010), Matt Rawitzer of Bellingham, WA (2009),
Eric Newburn of Danville, CA (2010),
Niall Platt of Santa Barbara, CA (2010),
Preston Valder of Yorba Linda, CA (2011), and
Bobby Lange of Sherman Oaks, CA (2009). Cameron Ward of Irvine, CA (2010), who led this division in birdies with 5, will start the final round tied for 12th at 75 with Trevor Simsby of Carlsbad, CA (2010), who led this divison in pars with 15. With this many players within 5 shots of the lead it should be a great final round.
Battle Brewing in the Boys 13-15 between the "B"s
Ben Doyle of San Diego, CA (2014) and
Brenton Hirao of Cypress, CA (2013) both opened the PGA West Classic with rounds of 74. Thirteen year old Doyle, a 3rd year FCWT player, won this event last season at the 11-12 level. Already he is out to prove himself at this next level of competition. Fourteen year old Hirao is in his first season on the FCWT and will be battling for his first title on Sunday. In addition to the co-leaders, others will be battling for the title as well. A twosome is tied for 3rd, and while their names don't start with "B"s, you could erase part of a "B" to make the appropriate letter, but let's not digress.
Thirteen year old Peter Kyo Won Koo of Chandler, AZ (2014) is in his first FCWT season, but has already won an event, the Grayhawk Challenge in December. In his other three events to date, he has been a factor, so don't count him out.
Thirteen year old Rico Thome of GERMANY (2011) is playing in his first FCWT event and already making a name for himself. Thome carded the only eagle in this division on the par 4, 9th hole, which, by the way, is the # 1 handicap hole on the course card. Ian Mankoff of Lake Forest, IL (2013) and Jonah Texeira of Solano Beach, CA (2014) are tied for 5th at 77, just 3 strokes off the pace. There is also a threesome tied at 78 that could also be contenders on Sunday: Kit Carson of Galt, CA (2012), Jonathan Keedy of Newport Beach, CA (2012) and Travis Rowney of Pleasanton, CA (2012).
A familiar saga is playing out in the Boys 11-12 division.
Tyler Moore of Escondido, CA (2015) fired a one under par round of 71 to lead all scores. Some of Tyler's competitors may be wondering, as was the case with some of his predecessors like Ben Doyle who won the 11-12 division here last season., "when will this young man age up?" In time, but not this season, as Moore hasn't been 12 for long. In any case, Moore has proven he is a force with which to be reckoned winning 4 times in 6 events. But on two occasions he has finished 2nd: at the ASU Classic Aaron Whalen won and at the ASU Challenge,
Gavin deFisser of Gilbert, AZ (2015) finished ahead of Moore. A feat deFisser would like to repeat on Sunday when he starts in 2nd place in this division. DeFisser will have his work cut out for him, starting 4 strokes off the pace, but it can be done. Tiger Lee of Queensland, AUSTRALIA (2015) cannot be counted out. Lee will start in 3rd place at 78, but it should be noted that he shaved 12 strokes off his Round Two score in the last event he played.
Nichole Corpus-Massucci of Henderson, NV (2010) and Lori Harper of Manhattan Beach, CA (2010) are tied for the lead with 18 holes left to play in the PGA West Classic. Nichole is playing in her 4th event of the season, but has never found herself in this position before. Lori is playing in her first FCWT event. They will start Sunday's round with a 2 stroke advantage over a twosome tied for 3rd: Danielle Gillaspy of Santa Maria, CA (2011) and Shannon Lubar of Littleton, CO (2012), who led this division in birdies with 3 on Saturday. Sarah Baek of Encinitas, CA (2011) will start in 5th place, just 3 strokes off the pace. Miss Baek co-led in pars with 11. Tina Soyon Kwon of Tustin, CA (2010) also had 11 pars. |
