Skip to main content

The Official Website of the Golf Coaches Association of America

 
   

JR

Flores, Team USA smoke field at Toyota World Junior Golf Cup

Day Three Round-Up

Flores, Team USA smoke field at Toyota World Junior Golf Cup

Cal Smith

 

TOYOTA CITY, Japan ? If you ask them, most golf-people will tell you that ?moving day? in a tournament is the day prior to the last day of the competition. That?s exactly what the Americans had heard and apparently they decided to take full advantage. A tournament best round of 18-under is what they had for the rest of the field on "moving day." Erik Flores heard before closing his round that Columbian Andres Echavarria had broken his two-day-old course-record of 65 with a 64. Erik decided he didn?t like that idea, so he birdied two of the last four holes, turning in his own 64 to tie the new 10-minute-old record.

Erik?s 8-under wasn?t the only news that the American team was making. The highest score for the entire team was Nick Smith?s 70. Anytime you don?t use a 70, you know your team is playing ridiculously well. Matt Swan turned in his second straight sub-70 performance, carding a 5-under 67 to follow up his 69 from yesterday. He also moved up to tied for sixth in the individual competition at 7-under for the tournament. Michael Green, not to be left out of the fun, chunked the ball around the course for his own 67, his first sub-par performance of the tournament. All together, the 18-under round put the US team at 29-under for the tournament, six strokes ahead of second-place England. Erik is now also leading by six strokes in the individual competition going into the last day of play.

Let?s review from yesterday?s article.... First of all, I said that the English team was playing more like a team than the Americans, but look for that to change and a more balanced attack from the Americans. Less than 24 hours later, I?m holding a card that says, "67-67-64" on it. Balanced enough for you? And did it end up paying off? Man I love being right. That?s not the only prediction that I went out on a limb and made. Michael had been having some problems and not coming up with scores that he?s capable of. I remember a certain columnist saying that the trend wouldn?t last. I?m pretty sure they said that he?d break into the sub-par numbers real quick. Let me check, cause I....think....that....a 67....is....yes it?s under par. OK, just making sure that I?m as great as everyone tells me. Now hold on a second....I?m just going to savor this moment. This is how I feel all the time, but I?m going to go ahead and pause to truly let it sink in. I think a victory lap around the clubhouse is in order due to my amazing Miss Cleo-like abilities. Be right back.

Ahhhhh that?s better. So I think I might really have a future with the Miss Cleo thing. She got sued or something for sucking so I?m pretty sure the job?s open. I can get the accent down, I?ve got impressive credentials and all that jazz. Until I hear back from them, I?ll share with you the golf-appropriate version of a little diddy by the Ghetto Boyz that comes up when explaining my persona....eh hem... "Darn it feels good to be a gangsta." Don?t forget it.

On to the ever-important Cal?s (Un)official Shot of the Day..... I take you to the par 4 second. Michael puts his 160-yard approach shot exactly 18.5 inches away from the cup, leading to a birdie putt of exactly 18.5 inches to go 1-under after two. It was just the start of a great day for him and the rest of the team.

Past 24 hours in 24 seconds....A team in the lead (again), a record (again), still a very cute front desk girl that I?m working on (the communication barrier is killing me in that endeavor at the moment), a six stroke lead (once), a bunch of birdies, Miss Cleo, my new calling, gangstas, and a six stroke lead (twice). Tomorrow brings us the conclusion of the tournament and you know that I?ll be bringing you the results as soon as humanly possible (which probably means you?ll still be sleeping).

 

2005 Toyota World Junior Golf Cup

Third Round Results

Team Scores

1. United States 212-209-198=619 (-29)
2. England 212-208-205=625 (-23)
3. Columbia 212-211-204=627 (-21)
4. Argentina 212-213-208=633 (-15)
5. New Zealand 219-211-213=643 (-5)
T6. Chinese Taipei 220-212-212=644 (-4)
T6. Japan 223-215-206=644 (-4)
8. Mexico 214-217-215=646 (-2)
9. Canada 223-212-214=649 (+1)
10. Belgium 219-217-215=651 (+3)
11. Spain 223-209-221=653 (+5)
12. India 227-216-215=658 (+10)
13. South Africa 223-218-220=661 (+13)
14. Zimbabwe 230-232-226=688 (+40)

Top 9 Individuals

1. Erik Flores, United States 65-71-46=200 (-16)
2.
Daniel Willet, England 71-68-67=206 (-10)
3. Andres Achavarria, Columbia
72-71-64=207 (-9)
T4.
Juan Pablo Candela, Columbia
66-73-69=208 (-8)
T4. Juan Pablo Solis, Mexico 66-73-69=208 (-8)
T6. Jae An, New Zealand 72-70-67=207 (-7)
T6. Matthew Swan, United States 73-69-67=207 (-7)
T6. Yuki Usami, Japan 72-70-67=207 (-7)
9. Oliver Fisher, England 70-70-70=210 (-6)