Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (July 20, 2006) – Past champions Kevin Tway and Sihwan Kim each won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals and 2005 semifinalist and stroke-play medalist Arnond ‘Bank’ Vongvanij was eliminated Thursday at the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club.

Tway, the defending champion and the son of 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob, took a 3-and-1 victory over Christopher DeForest of Cottekill, N.Y., in the second round of match play and then defeated Jean-Philippe Paiement of Canada, 3 and 2 in the third round. With the victories, Tway 17, extended his Junior Amateur match play mark to 9-0.

Tway will meet Wesley Graham, 16, of Port Orange, Fla., in the quarterfinals.

Kim, the 2004 champion at The Olympic Club near San Francisco, beat Bo Hoag of Columbus, Ohio, 3 and 2, in the morning and then downed J.D. Archibald of Simi Valley, Calif., 3 and 2.

“I think it’s a survivor test.” said Kim, who advanced to the quarterfinals at the recent 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links in Bremerton, Wash. “We have already played five rounds. Whoever has better physical condition will win this because you will hit better shots. When someone is tired they are not going to get the same swing.”

Kevin Tway of Edmond, Okla., has yet to lose a U.S. Junior Amateur match. The 2005 champion is now 9-0 in this championship. (John Mummert/USGA)

Kim, 17, faces 2005 quarterfinalist Philip Francis, 17, of Scottsdale, Ariz. in the quarterfinals in a re-match of last year’s third round, which Francis won in 19 holes. 

Francis, a winner of four events this season, is the highest remaining seeded player, after tying for second in stroke play at 7-under-par 137.

Korean-born Danny Lee, 15, of New Zealand, defeated medalist Vongvanij, 1 up, in the second round and then edged Robbie Ziegler of Canby, Ore., 1 up, to reach the quarterfinals. He meets 15-year-old Richard Lee of Chandler, Ariz., in the Friday morning’s first match.

Making four birdies in his first 10 holes, Danny Lee, who won the Under 23 New Zealand title and moved there five years ago, took a 3-up lead on Vongvanij.

“On the first nine, I was putting really well,” said Lee, who will celebrate his 16th birthday on Monday. “I can’t believe I got here.  It was only because of my putting.”

In a well-played match, Lee, who finished tied for third at the recent Junior Worlds at Torrey Pines, made five birdies and a bogey and shot the equivalent of 4-under-par 68 with the usual match-play concessions.  Meanwhile, Vonvanij posted three birdies and one bogey for his equivalent 69. Lee estimated that none of his putts for birdie were shorter than 15 feet.

“I got it going for a while but coming down the stretch I had few makeable putts but I didn’t make anything,” Vongvanij, 17, of Bradenton, Fla., said. “He probably made probably four 15-footers and two or three 30-footers.”

Vongvanij was attempting to become the first medalist to win since Matthew Rosenfeld in 2000.

Tadd Fujikawa, 15, of Honolulu, Hawaii, who was the youngest U.S. Open player in history at Winged Foot Golf Club near New York this June, edged Tyler Ichikawa, 1 up, in the second round but lost to Andrew Putnam of Tacoma, Wash., 3 and 2.

Putnam, 17, and the younger brother of Nationwide Tour player Michael, defeated highly regarded Rickie Fowler, 1 up, in the second round. His quarterfinal opponent is Williams ‘Bud’ Cauley, 16, of Jacksonville, Fla.

Match play continues with the quarterfinal and semifinal matches Friday and ends Saturday with the 36-hole championship final.  All matches before the final are 18 holes.

All quarterfinalists are exempt from qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Junior Amateur at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo., near Kansas City, July 23-28.

The U.S. Junior Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are solely for amateurs. Past champions include Tiger Woods (1991, 1992, 1993), David Duval (1989), Gay Brewer (1949) and Mason Rudolph (1950).

Story written by Pete Kowalski of USGA Media Relations. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.

Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. – Results from Thursday’s second and third rounds of match play at the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur, conducted by the United States Golf Association, played at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club (6,923 yards, par 72):

Second Round
Upper Bracket

Danny Lee, New Zealand (146) d. Arnond Vongvanij, Bradenton, Fla. (136), 1 up
Robbie Ziegler, Canby, Ore. (144) d. Chris Hamm, Fredericksburg, Va. (144), 3 and 2
Richard Lee, Chandler, Ariz. (149) d. Harris English, Thomasville, Ga. (145), 2 and 1
Cody Gribble, Dallas, Texas (142) d. Wes Roach, Knoxville, Tenn. (147), 3 and 1
Jean-Philippe Paiement, Canada (146) d. Corey Nagy, Charlotte, N.C. (139), 19 holes
Kevin Tway, Edmond, Okla. (143) d. Christopher Deforest, Cottekill, N.Y., 3 and 1
Wesley Graham, Port Orange, Fla. (140) d. Hyun Seok Lim, Korea (147), 2 and 1
Drew Kittleson, Scottsdale, Ariz. (144) d. Sean Maekawa, Paauilo, Hawaii (143), 4 and 3

Lower Bracket

Philip Francis, Scottsdale, Ariz. (137) d. Brad Schneider, Tampa, Fla. (146), 3 and 2
Morgan Hoffmann, Wyckoff, N.J. (149) d. Eric Mina, Fremont, Calif. (148), 6 and 4
Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif. (141) d. Bo Hoag, Columbus, Ohio (145), 3 and 2
J.D. Archibald, Simi Valley, Calif. (145) d. Joe Monte, Chantilly, Va. (149), 2 and 1
Andrew Putnam, University Place, Wash. (146) d. Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif. (137), 1 up
Tadd Fujikawa, Honolulu, Hawaii (144) d. Tyler Ichikawa, Los Altos, Calif. (149), 1 up
Steve Ziegler, Broomfield, Colo. (150) d. Alex Volpenhein, Edgewood, Ky. (147), 2 and 1
Bud Cauley, Jacksonville, Fla. (148) d. William Miller, Venetia, Pa. (149), 19 holes

Third Round
Upper Bracket

D. Lee d. R. Ziegler, 1 up
R. Lee d. Gribble, 3 and 2
Tway d. Paiement, 3 and 2
Graham vs. Kittleson, 1 up

Lower Bracket

Francis d. Hoffman, 1 up
Kim d. Archibald, 3 and 2
Putnam d. Fujikawa, 3 and 2
Cauley d. Ziegler, 3 and 1

Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. – Pairings for Friday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur, conducted by the United States Golf Association, played at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club (6,936/6,923 yards, par 72) all times PDT:

Upper Bracket

8:00 a.m. -- Danny Lee, New Zealand (146) vs. Richard Lee, Chandler, Ariz. (149)
8:15 a.m. -- Kevin Tway, Edmond, Okla. (143) vs. Wesley Graham, Port Orange, Fla. (140)

Lower Bracket

8:30 a.m. -- Philip Francis, Scottsdale, Ariz. (137) vs. Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif. (141)
8:45 a.m. -- Andrew Putnam, University Place, Wash. (146) vs. Bud Cauley, Jacksonville, Fla. (148)