Chun, Kim matched up at
U.S. Girls’ Junior golf

The two face each other today in the first
round; Kono also reaches match play

EAGLE, Idaho » Mari Chun yesterday said she'd like to play a friend in today's first round of match play at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at BanBury Golf Club.

How about someone from Hawaii?

"No," she said, "I want Hawaii to do well."

Well, about 9 hours later, when the USGA finalized the pairings, they delivered this gem:

Pearl City's Chun vs. Kimberly Kim of Hilo.

And if the winner of that match can win in the second round this afternoon, she might be looking at Stephanie Kono of Honolulu in tomorrow's third round.

Kono opens match play against Henna Cho of Cerritos, Calif. A win over Cho and there could be a match with three-time medalist and 2002 Girls' Junior champ In-Bee Park in the second round.

Kono is the 14th seed with a two-day total of 2-under 140, Kim is the 30th seed at 144 and Chun is the 35th seed at 145.

Chun, the co-medalist in the Girls' Junior last year, likes her chances on a course that presents plenty of birdie opportunities. She made five birdies and five bogeys yesterday.

"I feel like I can really score on this course as long as I don't make many mistakes," Chun said. "It was an OK way to start for me. I don't feel sad or happy. It was bumpy both days."

The real tournament begins today, as the top 64 girls out of the field of 156 begin six rounds of one-on-one competition.

The winner must survive two rounds today, two rounds tomorrow, one round Friday and one round Saturday.

Match play will force them to play aggressively, because it often takes birdies to win holes.

"You don't have to be as conservative on your putts," Kono said. "You can go for the par-5s. In match play, even if you make a mistake on one hole, it doesn't cost you that much."

The players also must decide during match play whether to give their opponents short putts, or make them putt them.

Kono and Chun both said they would be liberal in granting gimmes.

"You don't want to win because they missed a small putt," Kono said. "You want to win because you played better than them."

Chun, who reached the quarterfinals last week at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, has only played about a dozen matches in her career.

"I haven't played enough to form my own strategy," she said. "I concentrate on my own game."

Kono, who won the Westfield Junior PGA in Ohio on Saturday, had more than golf on her mind yesterday.

She completed her second round slightly after 11 a.m. here -- which meant she had some free time for a change.

"I want to go shopping," she said. "I haven't gone shopping yet on the mainland. And then I want to watch 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'"

The fourth Hawaii golfer in the field, Kaitlen Miyajima of Wailuku, rebounded well from a disappointing first round. She followed an 81 with a 73 to tie for 90th.

Taylore Karle, the first-round leader, earned medalist honors. Karle set the USGA amateur scoring record with a two-day total of 12-under-par 130.

Angela Park finished second at 132 after posting a 63 yesterday, the same score Karle shot Monday.

Karle trailed by two when she teed off yesterday afternoon, but quickly regained the lead.

"I just think it's how confident I am," she said of her stellar play. "This is probably my seventh tournament this summer, and I haven't won the past few, and I'm just fed up with it."

Low in contention at Junior Amateur Jacob Low of Hilo shot a 2-over-par 72 in yesterday's second round of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championships but must wait until today to find out if he qualifies for match play. Yesterday's round was interrupted by lightning twice, and 30 players still have to complete the round at the event at Longmeadow Country Club in Longmeadow, Mass. The final round of stroke play was scheduled to be completed this morning. Then the field will be trimmed to 64 for match play. Low's second round left him tied with 13 other golfers for 58th place at 146, 13 strokes behind leader Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer's grandson, who is all but assured medalist honors. As it stands, those 14 would have a sudden-death playoff for the final seven spots in match play. From staff and wire reports