Ford extends his advantage to seven shots in Rolex Tournament of Champions; Zhang leads girls field by three shots

    David Ford of Peachtree Gardens, Ga. made a statement with a remarkable 10-under-par 62 on the PGA National Resort & Spa’s Fazio Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Friday and will take a commanding seven-shot lead into Saturday’s final round of the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the premier event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) calendar.

   Downingtown West freshman Nick Gross, the District One Class AAA champion, had his best round of the week, a 4-under 68 over the 6,869-yard, par-72 Fazio layout, and moved from one shot behind to one shot ahead of Carlisle senior John Peters, the District Three Class AAA champion, in the battle for low Pennsylvanian at PGA National.

   Gross, who finished third in last month’s PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County to cap his freshman season, was among the group tied for 34^th place at even-par 215 after three rounds.

   Peters, winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship last summer at Hershey Country Club’s East Course, carded a solid 2-under 70 that landed him in the group tied for 41^st place at 1-over 216.

   But this Black Friday belonged to Ford, who will join the North Carolina program next summer. The left-hander already owns two big wins on the AJGA circuit in 2020 in the AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield and in The Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

   Ford very simply went off on the Fazio Course Friday, making eight birdies on the first 11 holes. At some point, 59 had to have  crossed his mind, but Ford cooled off a little while still making birdies at the 15^th and 17^th holes and parring the rest. It added up to 10 birdies and nary a bogey on a glittering scorecard.

   Ford had surged into the lead on the strength of a Thanksgiving Day 6-under 65 on the Champion Course that gave him a three-shot advantage following Thursday’s second round.

   Ford's heroics Friday left him with a 54-hole total of 19-under 196 and a seven-shot advantage over fellow Georgian Bruce Murphy of Johns Creek, who put together a pretty tidy 8-under 64 himself, but still lost ground to Ford.

   Murphy, a Tennessee recruit, had owned a share of the lead following the opening round when he and William Love of Atlanta, yet another Georgian, both signed for a sparkling 65 at the Fazio course. Murphy struggled a little in a 3-over 74 in the second round at the Champion Course before bouncing back in a big way Friday. Murphy’s 64 left him in sole possession of second place at 12-under 203.

   Love, who is headed for Duke next summer, posted a solid 4-under 68 and was alone in third place at 10-under 205. The trio at the top of the leaderboard are certainly representing for the Peachtree State this week.

   Gross, coming off a dominating 13-shot victory in the Boys 13-and-under division in the inaugural Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship at Koasati Pines at Coushatta last week in Kinder, La., found his groove a little on the Fazio Course Friday. He had opened with a 2-over 74 on the Fazio Course Wednesday and added a 2-over 73 at the Champion Course in Thursday’s second round.

   Not sure if Gross started his day off the first tee or the 10^th tee, but he was typically solid. He bookended seven pars on the outgoing nine with birdies at the first and ninth holes. He also had birdies at the 11^th, 12^th and 14^th holes, giving him five for the round, against his lone bogey of the day at 16.

   Peters also had his best round of the week, a 2-under 70. Peters had opened with a 1-over 73 on the Fazio Course before adding a 2-over 73 at the Champion Course in his Thanksgiving Day round.

   Again, not sure where Peters started his round, but he did get an eagle on the par-5 first hole. He also had a bogey at the fourth hole and birdied the fifth and was 2-under on the outgoing nine. On the back nine, Peters had a birdie at the 12^th hole and a bogey at 13.

   On the girls side, Rose Zhang of Irvine, Calif. and No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), maintained her three-shot lead with a solid 3-under 69 over the 6,399-yard Champion Course, which plays to a par of 72 for the girls.

   Zhang, winner of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. in August, was typically efficient. Zhang had birdies at the sixth and eighth holes and, after making eight straight pars on the back nine, she closed with a birdie at the last. Her 69 left her with a 10-under 206 total heading into Saturday’s final round.

   Zhang, who will join the Stanford program next summer, is trying for a repeat in the Rolex Tournament of Champions and will receive the Rolex Junior Player of the Year award for the second straight season next week. After that, it’s off to Champions in Houston for the U.S. Women’s Open, pushed back to December by, what else, the coronavirus pandemic.

   Xin (Cindy) Kou, a Southern California recruit from China, kept the pressure on Zhang as Kou matched Zhang’s 3-under 69 and was three shots behind her future Pac-12 rival at 7-under 209.

   It was four more shots back to Megha Ganne, the Holmdel, N.J. standout who reached the semifinals of the 2019 U.S. women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. Ganne carded a 2-under 70 and was alone in third place at 3-under 213. Ganne has verbally committed to join the Stanford program in the summer of 2022.

   The only other player under par for three rounds was South Florida phenom Alexa Pano of Lake Worth. Pano, the runnerup to Yealimi Noh in the 2018 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Poppy Hills Golf Course on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula, also got it around the Champion Course in 3-under 69. That left Pano with sole possession of fourth place at 1-under 215.

   The youngest player in the top 10 was Warren, Ohio seventh-grader Gianna Clemente, who matched par with a 72 in Friday’s third round at the Champion Course to join the group tied for seventh place at 1-over 217.

   Angelina Tolentino, a product of the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour from Mount Laurel, N.J., struggled a little on the Champion Course, registering a 5-over 77 that left her among the group tied for 39^th place at 12-over 228.

   It was a three-shot improvement on Tolentino’s opening-round 80 at the Champion Course. She bounced back with a 1-under 71 Thanksgiving Day at the Fazio Course.

   Pennsbury senior Jade Gu, who finished in a tie for second place in this fall’s District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club, had her best round of the week, a 2-over 74 at the Champion Course, and landed in the group tied for 47^th place at 232.

   It was an eight-shot improvement from her opening-round 82 at the Champion Course and Gu added a 3-over 75 in her first  crack at the Fazio Course on Thanksgiving Day.