J.B. Williams leads Junior PGA Championship after round one
J.B. Williams’ seven-under par 65 earned the Danville resident a two-stroke lead over Sacramento’s Cameron Champ and Smithtown’s Jim Liu at the 37th Junior PGA Championship at the Sycamore Hills Golf Club on Tuesday, July 31, 2012.
Williams got off to a stunning start and recorded four birdies on the front nine to go four-under for the round. However, a bogey to start the back nine dragged him back by one stroke.
Yet, he did not stop playing good strokes and birdied four of the final six holes in regulation. With such a remarkable performance, he also matched the course record of 65.
According to the Kentucky Junior PGA Championship winner, it was one of the greatest rounds of his career so far and he will remember it for years.
He told that he started off well and did not allow the bogey to affect his confidence, as he kept recording birdies till the end. "It was a career day," said Williams. "I got hot on the front nine and kept it going on the back".
He told that he saw many players reaching the pins easily because of the softness of the greens following the early morning rainfall.
That was the main reason why most of the players succeeded in breaking the par mark in the opening round. However, he does not expect low scores in the upcoming rounds if the sun shines without any hindrance by the clouds.
"The rain delay this morning was a big factor," Williams said. "The greens were firm during the practice round, but today most of the guys were able to shoot at the pins and there were lots of low scores".
Meanwhile, Beau Hossler and Tyler McDaniel tied for the fourth position with a four-under par opening-round score.
Further a stroke back were a group of four players – Robby Shelton, Rylee Reinertson, Dru Love and Max McGreevy, all of whom shared the sixth spot on the leaderboard.
On the other hand, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn led the girl’s division after carding a six-under par 66. She has a one-stroke margin over Samantha Wagner of Windermere, Florida.
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