Lower Merion sophomore Sydney Yermish, an impressive winner
of the District One Class AAA Championship as a freshman last fall, finished in
11th place in the KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational,
which concluded Thursday at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., the
site of the 2019 NCAA Championship.
The American Junior Golf Association event was open to
younger junior players, ages 12 to 15.
Yermish, who plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club, has kept
her game in shape at her family’s home away from home near the Pinehurst
Country Club & Resort in North Carolina. She’ll tee it up in the 42nd
Girls’ North & South Amateur, which tees off Monday.
Yermish was involved in a playoff for the PIAA Class AAA
Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort last fall with fellow freshman
Elizabeth Beek of Wissahickon and West Chester East sophomore Victoria Kim.
Beek prevailed in the playoff to claim the state title.
Beek and Kim were two of the three players who finished in a
tie for fifth place at this week’s Pennsylvania Golf Association Junior Girls’
Championship at Lebanon Country Club.
Yermish was a little rusty in her opening-round 79 over a
challenging layout at The Blessings Tuesday. But she got better every day,
adding a 3-over 75 in Wednesday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 74
in Thursday’s final round for a 12-over 228 total.
Leigh Chien of Irvine, Calif. had three rounds in the 60s to
run away with the title for the second straight year with a remarkable 11-under
205 total. She ripped off back-to-back 3-under 69s in the first two rounds
before closing with a sizzling 5-under 67.
It was the third AJGA title for Chien and her 11-under total
was the lowest 54-hole total recorded in an AJGA event at The Blessings.
Chien’s victory also earned her a berth in the Symetra
Tour’s Founders Tribute at Longbow, which tees off Aug. 14 at the Longbow Golf
Club in Mesa, Ariz. The Symetra Tour is the LPGA Tour’s developmental circuit.
It was nine shots back to runnerup Kiara Romero of San Jose,
Calif., who fired a final round of 4-under 68 and was the only other player
under par for the week with a 2-under 214 total.
Jasmine Koo of Corritos, Calif. matched Romero’s final-round
68 to take third place with a 1-over 217 total. Katie Li of Basking Ridge, N.J.
matched Chien for the low round of the day with a final round of 5-under 67 to
finish in fourth place at 2-over 218.
Lydia Swan, who captured the PIAA Class AA Championship as a
sophomore at North East last fall, gave Pennsylvania a second player among the
top 15 at The Blessings. Swan opened with a 79 and shaved five shots off that
round with a 2-over 74 in the second round before closing with a 77 to finish
in a tie for 14th place with a 230 total.
Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J. also had a solid
showing in the Stacy Lewis Invitational as she finished alone in 21st
place at 239. Tolentino recorded an opening-round 79 and added a 78 in
Wednesday’s second round before closing with an 82.
On the boys side, Jack Usner of The Woodlands, Texas ripped
off a final round of 5-under 67 to rally for the victory with a 4-under 212
total.
Usner trailed second-round leader Kush Arora of Pleasanton,
Calif. by three shots after two rounds. Usner was 1-under through nine holes of
the final round when he had four birdies and his first career hole-in-one on
the incoming nine to pull away for a two-shot victory.
Sihao Cong of Irvine, Calif. fired a final-round 69 to earn
runnerup honors with a 2-under 214 total. Kush, who was at 2-under 142 after
rounds of 72 and 70 in the first two rounds, cooled off a little with a 1-over
73 in the final round to finish in third place at 1-under 215.
Jaivir Pande of Houston carded his third straight even-par
72 to take fourth place with an even-par 216 total.
Yermish will be joined in the field of the Girls’ North
& South Amateur next week by Episcopal Academy senior Lauren Jones, who
lost her junior season this spring to the coronavirus pandemic. Jones, who plays
out of Merion Golf Club, finished in a tie for 11th place in the
Pennsylvania Junior Girls at Lebanon this week.
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