GRANITEVILLE — One title chase felt like a runaway, and the other felt very much like it was up for grabs late Friday afternoon at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
How quickly 45 minutes can change a golf tournament.
Joshua Bai’s four-shot lead over Jackson Byrd in the boys’ division quickly dropped back to two, and Aphrodite Deng boosted her lead in the girls’ division from one to four shots during the final three holes.
Still, if the Junior Invitational has proven anything in its history is that anything can happen during the final round.
Big leads have been squandered. Wide-open races have turned into runaways, and vice versa. Playoffs have happened – the first and only one in the boys’ tournament happened with Caleb Surratt’s win in 2022, only minutes after Amalie Leth-Nissen won in the same fashion in the inaugural girls’ championship.
Needless to say, the leaders and chasers know what it’s going to take in Saturday’s final round.
“My opponents were making a lot of birdies so I wanted to keep up with them,” said Deng, who withstood a front-nine birdie binge from Scarlett Schremmer (69) and overcame a lead held from the opening round by Pimpisa Rubrong (73).
“I just played each shot trying not to make any errors,” said Deng, a Canadian who made seven birdies and only one bogey in a round of 66 to reach 8 under for the championship. “I just have to play my own game.”
Bai has a similar mindset. The New Zealander learned from last year, when he led after a first-round 65 before finishing three back of champion Giovanni Binaghi, and now he’s looking to go wire-to-wire after holding at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds.
“I felt like I was on autopilot, which is what I strive to feel like when I am playing my best golf,” said Bai, who shot 67 on Friday and briefly reached 13 under before a double bogey on 17 dropped him back to 11. “I’m excited to have another round tomorrow, and the game plan doesn’t change – just have fun and have a crack at it.”
Read the full article here
