Vance finishes with share of third at Junior PGA Championship

   Methacton senior Kyle Vance matched par with a final-round 69 to finish in a tie for third at the 41^st Junior PGA Championship, presented by Under Armour and Genesis Networks, Friday at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I.

   Vance, a two-time District One Class AAA champion, finished with a 1-over 277 total for 72 holes over the par-69 Wannamoisett layout, a Donald Ross classic.

   Vance, who recently committed to play his college golf at Kansas State, had a steady final round after a roller-coaster ride in the third round. Vance sandwiched birdies at six and nine around a bogey at the seventh on the front side. He then birdied the par-5 17^th and bogeyed the last hole to end up three shots behind champion Norman Xiong of Canyon Lake, Calif.

   Xiong had the lead heading into the final round and put together a solid 1-under 68 to finish at 2-under 274.

   Xiong made birdies on the second, sixth and ninth holes around a bogey at the seventh on the front side, then made bogeys at 12 and 16 before righting the ship with a birdie at the 17^th to hold off local favorite Patrick Welch of Providence, R.I.

   “From my first practice round, I knew that this course really fit my game,” Xiong told the PGA of America’s website. “That said, the conditions were really difficult. Round 2 was wet and, for me, the third day was so hot. The course, however, played great the whole week. I loved it.”

   Welch kept the heat on Xiong throughout the final round as he carded a 2-under 67 to finish at even-par 276, a shot back of Xiong.

   Vance was joined at 1-over 277 by Davis Shore of Knoxville, Tenn., who had a final-round 70.

   In the girls division, 13-year-old Lucy Li of Redwood Shores, Calif. turned the tables on Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii from last week’s qualifying rounds at the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club as Li fired a final-round 69 at Wannamoisett, which played to a par of 71 for the girls, to capture the Junior PGA Championship.

   Last week at Rolling Green, Galdiano, a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup team who is headed to UCLA to play her college golf, fired a brilliant 6-under 65 to overtake Li and capture medalist honors by two shots over Li.

   This time it was Li overtaking Galdiano as the talented youngster finished at 7-under 206 while Galdiano, who held a three-shot lead entering the final round, faltered with a 77 to finish in a tie for second at 5-undere 208.

   Galdiano was joined at that figure by Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, Calif., who also qualified for match play last week at Rolling Green. Abdulghany, a Southern California recruit, had a final-round 70.