Japanese girl could be trail

blazer in R&A Junior Open

A girl has never yet won the R&A Junior Open championship trophy – but this week could seen Japanese +2 player Mami Fukuda blazing a trail.
Very late on a long day in the so-slow first round of the biennial tournament for Under-16s at sometimes windy but always overcast Hesketh Golf Club, Southport, Mami came in with a splendid score of two-under-par 70 , bogeying only the ninth, and birdieing the 10th, 12th and 18th.
That was two shots better than the leading boys, Jordan Speith from Dallas, Texas and Meen-Whee Kim from Korea.
The trophy goes to the player with the lowest 54-hole aggregate, whether boy or girl. It has always been boys who have won it up to now.
Speith, a 14-year-old from Dallas,with a handicap of +4, lived up to his high rating.
“I never been in Britain before and the weather’s nothing to write home about,” said Jordan whose golfing CV includes a string of American Junior Golf Association victories.
Make a note of the name for a Walker Cup match in about four years time – and an ageing Tiger Woods may have to look to his laurels about eight to 10 years down the line.
Spieth shared the boys’ leadership on par 72 covering the last in four under par in a round that took more than 5 1/2hr to complete.
“I wasn’t going anywhere round about the turn,” said Jordan. “I had bogeyed the third and then I three-putted three holes in a row from the eighth to be four over par.
“Then it all seemed to turn my way when I holed a five-footer to save par at the 11th. I think that was the first five-footer I had holed all day.”
Then Young Master Spieth’s round took off.
He birdied the 12th from eight feet, just missed an eagle 3 at the 494yd 13th, and birdied the 15th, 16th and 18th for three-under-par 34 home .. which should have been 33 and a leading 71.
“I was going strong by the time I got to the 17th which is a par-5 of just over 500 yards. I felt I could get an eagle of a birdie with a big drive but I made a mess of it and drove into the rough – and the rough is just a hack out in some places on this course.
“The hole cost me a bogey, my first since the 10th. But, I guess, after the hole I was in, I have to be happy to get out of jail with a par round.”
Sharing the boys’ pole position with the American is Meen-Whee Kim from Korea. He had halves of 36 and after a birdie at the 17th, he bogeyed the last.
Best of British on a long, long day was Welsh youngster Sam Dix, playing out of Ham Manor. Sam had a 75, despite double bogey 6s at the sixth and the 14th in halves of 36 and 39.
He birdied the seventh, eighth, 15th and 18th.
Harry Whittle (Woburn) and Paul McPhee (King James VI), both past winners of the Scottish Under-14s title, are both on four-over 76.
McPhee had a bad run of four bogeys on the trot from the fifth and was six over par after further shots shed at the 10th and 12th but he did a mini-Jordan Speith home run with six pars and birdies at the long 13th and long 17th for 37 home.
Whittle ran up a double bogey 6 via the knee-high rough at the fifth, having bogeyed the second. He dropped more shots at the 14th and 16th but his only birdie of the round, a pitch and a putt 4 at the last, saw him finish with a smile on his face.
Ireland’s Daniel Murphy, another finisher after 8pm, could feel pleased with a 78 although he would not have been happy with taking 40 blows for the inward half, including a bogey 6 at the last.
Mami Fukuda’s 70 put her right at the top overall and two shots clear also of the joint second girl, Moriya Jutanugarn, a scratch player from Thailand.
Crieff’s Annabel Niven, picture above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, was the top British and Irish girl competitor. She had birdies at the 17th and 18th in returning a 78 (39-39), which was a creditable effort, considering she bogeyed the first five holes.
Emma Davies from Wales had an 82 which included an eagle at the last in 43 home.
Ireland’s Daryl Conroy, who plays off 11, had an 84 with halves of 40 and 44.
English Under-13 girls’ champion Hannah Marie Turland (Tidworth Garrison) had a nightmare 85 including a triple bogey 8 at the seventh, a double bogey 7 at the 17th and double bogey 6s at the fifth and 16th in halves of 42 and 43.