Taylor takes lead

GORDONSVILLE — A collection of some of the most talented young golfers from around the world resumed play at the American Junior Golfers Associa-tion’s Junior All-Star at Spring Creek on Tuesday, and the scene is set for today’s final round.

Thailand’s Paveenuch Sritragul holds a decisive advantage in the girls’ division heading into this morning’s final, while Julian Taylor of Greenville, S.C., has a slim lead over a handful of competitors in the boys’ division.

Taylor began Tuesday’s round two shots off of the lead, but put together an impressive run on his final nine holes to move into sole possession of first place overall. Taylor fired a one-under-par 71 on Tuesday, and finished strong, admitting that his iron game was the strong point of his stellar round.

The highlight of Taylor’s day came at the first hole - his tenth of the round - where he knocked in an eagle from the fairway. Taylor also birdied his final hole to boost his confidence.

“[Finishing strong] makes you feel a lot better going into the next day,” he said. “I’m definitely going to have to concentrate and shoot another good score [today], because it will be a battle. Being one stroke back is nothing.”

Taylor admitted that the course at Spring Creek is similar to his home course, in that the greens are fast and bumpy, which he said might play to his advantage today.

Meechai Padungsiriseth, the leader after Monday’s opening round, struggled a bit on the greens Tuesday, but is sitting pretty, just one stroke off of the lead. The Bradenton, Fla., native is tied with Hank Lebioda and Stanhope Johnson, Jr. with a total score of 142.

“My putting was a little off today,” admitted Padungsiriseth, who made 32 total putts on Tuesday as opposed to just 26 on Monday. “The last few holes, I missed a few birdie butts within 10 feet. I guess I’ll have to work on that a little bit.”

Williamsburg’s Trevor Times also had a rougher go of it on Tuesday with a two-over 74, but remains within striking distance, tied with three other golfers at 144, three shots back. Times explained that keeping himself in contention was his main goal going into the final day, saying that it would be extra special to win an event in his home state.

“I just had to hang in there because I knew that if I shot somewhere around par, that I’d still have a chance tomorrow,” he said.

Charlottesville’s Davis Whitmer missed the cut after carding an 83 for a two-day total of 169.

On the girls’ side, Sritragul shot a 74 on Tuesday, but still holds a commanding six-stroke advan-tage over her competition. The Bangkok native shot a 68 on Monday in her first-ever AJGA tournament and was putting in extra time on the putting green follow-ing her round on Tuesday.

“I’m really impressed with myself,” she said. “I think the highlight of my round was my approach shot, but I just missed some putts. The pin placement was quite tough, but I just need to be more confident in my putting to continue to be successful.”

Sritragul started the day with a bogey on the 10th hole (her first of the day), but birdied the 18th at the turn. Despite four more bogeys on the back nine, Sritragul managed back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes to right the ship.

Irina Paulin Gabasa of the Philippines is currently in second place after an even-par 72 on Tuesday, but has a lot of ground to make up to catch Sritragul. Jacqueline Shelly is third, seven shots back, while Minjia Luo and Ana Ruiz are tied for fourth, eight back.

Tournament director Greg Sanfilippo, who oversees the entire operation of the Junior All-Star, says that the ultimate goal of the AJGA is to help its aspiring members (nearly 5,000 across the U.S. and 25 foreign countries) to one day obtain a college scholarship, as well as to teach them how to be successful in life.

“We instill dress codes and code of conduct on the golf course,” he explained. “We’re trying to develop the next generation and continue to strive for their improvement to make them better when they compete at the collegiate level.”

Today’s final round gets underway at 8 a.m., with the last group teeing off shortly after 9:30.