Jim Liu off to a confident start at the 37th Junior PGA Championship
Jim Liu shot a five-under par 67 on Tuesday to sit two strokes behind the leader J.B. Williams, heading into the second round of the 37th Junior PGA Championship.
Liu had seven birdies and two bogeys in his opening round at the Sycamore Hills Golf Club, giving him a share of the second place along with Cameron Champ.
The Smithtown resident started the day with a couple of consecutive birdies on the second and third hole. He pulled further ahead with another two birdies in a row to end his front nine.
However, his momentum stalled with bogeys on the 11th and 14th before he compensated with birdies on the final two holes in regulation.
"I got off to a really hot start," said Liu, 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur winner. "The back was harder, but I was able to hold it together and close with birdies on 17 and 18".
Meanwhile, Champ also recorded the same number of birdies as Liu did. The only difference was in the number of bogeys. Liu had two bogeys in his round and Champ had just one, but it was a double bogey.
Beau Hossler, who also participated in this year’s US Open, recorded a four-under par 68 to share the fourth spot on the leaderboard.
Hossler played brilliantly for the first 17 holes, as he remained bogey-free and recorded five birdies in total. However, he faltered on the final hole and slipped down to four-under for the round.
According to him, he was not as good as he should have been while teeing off at Sycamore Hills. Most of the times, he found himself out of the fairways. Yet, he managed to remain safe in the end and posted a reasonable score.
"I was pretty flawless today, minus the bogey at 18," said Hossler, who tied for the 29th position at the US Open this year. "If I can keep the ball in the fairway, I will be right there at the end of the week".
A total of four players, including Robby Shelton, Rylee Reinertson, Dru Love and Max McGreevy are tied for the sixth place with a three-under par score.
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