Trusted
Choice® Big “I” National Championship
Old York Country Club at Chesterfield
Chesterfield, N.J.
July 27-30, 2010
Bunner and Termeer Tied as Boys Division Third Round Leaders
at Trusted Choice® Big “I” National Championship
Tsukiyama continues to hold top spot
of the Girls’ Leaderboard
Chesterfield,
N.J. — The Boys Division saw a tight duel during the third round of
the Trusted Choice® Big “I” National Championship as Greg Bunner of
Cherryville, N.C., and Tayler Termeer of Austin, Texas, battled for the
lead. The two, who started the round tied, came out even again after
shooting 71s for even-par 213 tournament totals. In the Girls Division,
Kuriko Tsukiyama of Bogota, N.J., shot a third-round 77 to maintain the
lead at 1-under-par 141.
The Trusted Choice® Big “I” National Championship is
a 72-hole stroke play event hosted at Old York Country Club at
Chesterfield. The tournament field boasts 102 boys and 54 girls, ages
12-18, from 35 states, with nine juniors representing the host state of
New Jersey. Second-round cuts were made at 155 in the Boys Division and
159 in the Girls Division to include 55 boys and 27 girls for the third
and final rounds.
Bunner found himself down by two strokes with two
holes to play after a bogey on No. 16. He birdied the par-4 17th to sit
one shot back, and finished tied after Termeer bogeyed the final hole.
The soon-to-be Western Carolina University golfer said he just wants to
relax until Friday’s final round.
“I’m a little nervous but feeling confident about
tomorrow,” Bunner said. “I’m going to go home and relax and not think
about golf.”
Termeer birdied Nos. 8 and 9 to
start the back nine off with a four-stroke lead. The 2011 graduate
bogeyed three holes on the back to end they day with an even-par 71.
Termeer’s short game carried him through the round and the Texan said
that he wasn’t thinking about Bunner’s play.
“I wasn’t really worrying about what he was doing
out there,” Termeer said. “I was focusing on my own shots. It just ended
up that we tied again.”
Four strokes back from
the leaders are Taylor Zoller of North Charleston, S.C., and Sean Friel
of Rochester Hills, Mich., who are tied for third at 4-over-par 217.
Zoller shot a 67, the third round low score and one stroke off of the
course record. Tied for fifth at 6-over-par 219 are Will Bishop of
Lexington, Ky., Joshua Moore of West Yarmouth, Mass., Cory McElyea of
Santa Cruz, Calif., Aaron Kunitomo of Lahaina, Hawaii, and first-round
leader David Snyder of Somerset, Ky.
In the Girls Division, 14-year-old Kuriko Tsukiyama
held onto her lead despite Ally McDonald of Fulton, Miss., cutting into
the gap. McDonald was one stroke back entering the par-5 13th hole, but a
triple bogey combined with a birdie by Tsykiyama helped the New Jersey
native to finish with a four stroke lead.
“It’s my first time having the lead going into the
final round,” Tsukiyama said. “Overall, it’s a round I don’t want to
remember. There’s some things I’m going to work on for tomorrow.”
McDonald, who made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Girls’
last week, holds second place at 6-over-par 222. Ashlee Pickerell of
Salem, Ore., sits in third at 8-over-par 224.
Following
the third round, the 24th annual Patrick Cannon Memorial Long Drive
Championship was held on the first tee. The top five boys and girls from
the qualifying round teed-up three times in an attempt to out-drive
their competitors. Patrick Fishburn of Odgen, Utah, out-drove the boys
by 12 yards with a 357 yard shot, a new record. Fishburn now holds two
Big “I” records, the longest drive and the lowest single-round score of
63 from last year’s third round. Stani Schiavone of Bangor, Penn., took
home the girls’ trophy with a 282.5 yard drive down the middle of the
fairway. The trophy is named after the first long drive champion Patrick
Cannon (1996), who was killed in an automobile accident the following
year.
The Trusted Choice® Big “I” National Championship is
one of the nation’s premier junior stroke-play championships. Organized
by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, The Big
“I” attracts the nation’s top junior golfers. Notable past participants
include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Charles Howell III, David Duval,
Justin Leonard, Candie Kung, Cristie Kerr and Grace Park.
The Big “I” is able to provide an opportunity for
juniors to compete thanks to its title sponsor Trusted Choice,
presenting sponsor Harleysville, and its partners Allied Insurance and
Nike Golf.
For more information about the Trusted Choice® Big
“I” National Championship, please contact Media Relations Manager
Chelsea McCullough (TrustedChoiceBigI@gmail.com) at (404) 242-7435 or
visit the tournament website at bigigolf.com.
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