U.S. Open has Distinct Junior Tour Flavor S
o does JTNC stand for the Junior Tour of Northern California? Or the Junior Tour of North Carolina? A special foursome of Junior Tour
players past and present descended on Pinehurst in June for the unique U.S. Open doubleheader, represent- ing Northern California quite well in North Carolina. Junior Tour alum and Stanford
sophomore Maverick McNealy made a legitimate run at making the cut at the Men’s U.S. Open, with his father and Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott on the bag. McNealy began the tournament 1-under through seven holes before shooting a 4-over 74, a score that beat two-time Masters winner Bubba Wat- son by two, and fellow Stanford team- mate and NCAA Individual champion Cameron Wilson by four. A birdie in the second round on
No. 15 brought McNealy to within one stroke of the cutline and 6 over for the
championship, but he bogeyed No. 17 and tripled the last to close with a 76. McNealy was an All-Pac-12
Freshman last year and helped Stanford reach the semifi nals of the NCAA Championships. Three Junior Tour products swept the
Half Moon Bay sectional site to qualify for the Women’s U.S. Open at Pine- hurst the following week: 11-year-old Lucy Li, 16-year-old Kathleen Scavo, and UC Davis sophomore Paige Lee. Li became the youngest player ever to
qualify for the Women’s U.S. Open and broke 80 both rounds, logging four bird- ies in back-to-back 78s. The 11-year-old beat Natalie Gulbis by one in the fi rst round, and another player by 10. Even Li’s playing partner Catherine
O’Donnell was impressed. “She’s way better than I was expect-
ing,” O’Donnell told the San Francisco Chronicle. “She’s a great player. She hits it out there farther than I was expecting to. She hit it by me twice—I
BY THE NUMBERS: Maverick McNealy
Lucy Li
Kathleen Scavo Paige Lee
wasn’t really happy about that.” Scavo had one of the most impres-
sive turnarounds at the U.S. Open, bettering her fi rst-round score by 10. After opening with an 83, the senior at Justin-Siena High fi red a 3-over 73 to tie with Li at 16-over 156. “I started to believe in myself more,
believe I was supposed to be there,” Scavo told the Napa Valley Register. “When I started to hit good shot after good shot, it was a confi dence booster.” Last year’s NCGA Women’s Ama- teur Champion Paige Lee had the best start out of anyone with Junior Tour ties, fi ring a wild fi rst-round 3-over 73 that included fi ve birdies to move inside the top 35. But Lee made just one birdie during a second-round 84 to fi nish a stroke behind Li and Scavo. Lee had a strong freshman year at UC
Davis, earning All-Big West fi rst-team honors while helping the Aggies capture their fi fth straight conference title. –Kevin Merfeld
74-76–150 Missed cut by 5 strokes Shot 67-69 to qualify at the Daly City sectional 78-78–156 Missed cut by 7 strokes Shot 74-68 to qualify at the Half Moon Bay sectional 83-73–156 Missed cut by 7 strokes Shot 78-71 to qualify at the Half Moon Bay sectional 73-84–157 Missed cut by 8 strokes Shot 76-74 to qualify at the Half Moon Bay sectional
Paige Lee 12 /
NCGA.ORG / SUMMER 2014
Kathleen Scavo
Maverick McNealy
PHOTO: USGA
PHOTO: USGA
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