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COURTESY OF THE PGA OF AMERICA Stephanie Kono made her way up a fairway yesterday during the second round of the Westfield Junior PGA Championship.

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Chun in quarters after
2 pressure-packed wins

The Kamehameha graduate from
Pearl City is three wins from
the Women’s Publinx title

After playing a tense 36 holes yesterday, Mari Chun settled in for a good night's sleep hoping today would bring another long day at the course.

The 17-year-old from Pearl City survived two close matches yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in Kansas City, Mo.

She plays 14-year-old Jane Rah of Torrance, Calif., in a quarterfinal match this morning at Swope Memorial Golf Course. The winner moves on to the semifinals this afternoon, and Chun wouldn't mind hiking the hilly course at least a couple of more times before she leaves.

"I hope so, that would be so neat," the recent Kamehameha graduate said. "I already passed my personal record in match play -- this whole day was breaking records for me.

"I'm just trying to soak everything in, enjoying every moment because all of this is so new and it's such a great experience. ... Closing in on the second-to-last day, it's neat to know you have a tee time and you're going to play."

The semifinal winners meet tomorrow in the 36-hole final.

In her first match yesterday, Chun, the co-medalist in stroke play, didn't take her first lead over Renee Skidmore of Everett, Wash., until the 17th hole and won 1-up when they both parred No. 18.

Chun trailed most of the match and tied it up when Skidmore bogeyed No. 15. Both players parred the next hole and Chun went ahead on another bogey by Skidmore.

"She was playing really well on the front and I just hung on and made sure I didn't get too far behind," Chun said. "Eventually she made enough mistakes that I could take advantage of it."

In her second match, Chun, who will enroll at Stanford in the fall, took a five-hole lead after seven holes against Hannah Jun, a junior at UCLA.

Chun was 3-up after a birdie on No. 14 only to have Jun storm back with birdies on the next two holes. Chun then managed to protect her lead on the final two holes for the 1-up victory.

"It was pretty much who would make the birdies. It became where you had to win by playing exceptionally well," Chun said.

"I never felt pressure or felt I was going to lose and get that negative thought process in my mind. I just kept it positive knowing I was still in the lead and she would have to work even harder. She had more pressure to have to make something happen, she would have to make those birdies and eagles."

Angela Park of Torrance, Calif., the other co-medalist, lost 1-up to Juli Wightman of Brigham Young in her second-round match. Park bogeyed No. 8, which allowed Wightman to take the lead for good. The two matched scores for the next 10 holes, including birdies on 18.

"I hit a 5-iron within a foot on No. 18 and she was inside me," Wightman said. "That's how it was all day. It was neck-and-neck every hole until the last shot."

Wightman, the freshman of the year in the Mountain West Conference, will face Ya-Ni Tseng, a 16-year-old from Taiwan who beat Michelle Wie in last year's finals, in the quarterfinals. Tseng eliminated Kihei's Mariko Shimozaki 4 and 3 in the second round and defeated Stephanie Ruiz of Edmond, Okla., 2 and 1 in the third round.

Kono tied for first

Honolulu's Stephanie Kono shot a 1-under-par 70 yesterday and is tied for the girls lead entering the third round of the Westfield Junior PGA Championship in Westfield, Ohio.

Kono and Candace Schepperle of Birmingham, Ala., lead the tournament at 6-under 136 after two rounds. Kono was 5 under after the first round and posted three birdies and two bogeys yesterday.

Kimberly Kim of Hilo is tied for sixth place at 3 over.

"I played pretty well, hitting more greens this round," Kono said. "I think I missed only one green, but it seemed like all my putts were downhill, so it was hard to make any birdies."

Yesterday's play was interrupted by a 2-hour, 42-minute rain delay.

On the boys side, Chan Kim of Honolulu carded a 4-under 67 to vault into fourth place. He is five strokes off the lead at 138.

Kim began the day in 12th place and was at even par at the turn yesterday. He posted three straight birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14 and closed his round with an eagle on the par-5 18th hole.

He had just his eagle putt left when play was delayed.

"Making that eagle putt was the only thing I could think about during the delay," Kim said. "I wasn't thinking about anything standing over my putt, I was shaking. I thought I left it out to the right, but luckily it just broke into the hole."

The 72-hole tournament is the PGA of America's national championship for golfers ages 17 and under.

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