A Tale of Two Players

Richy Werenski had a great chance to advance to the Sweet 16 at the USGA Junior Amateur today. He was two-up with four holes to play.

His opponent, David Persons of El Paso, Texas wasn't quite so eager to start heading west from Shoal Creek however. Persons birdied holes 15-17 to take a one-up lead, then made a miraculous up and down on the last to save par and close out the match with a 1-up victory over Werenski.

Richy will be back at Hank Haney IJGA next month to further refine his game under Hank's watchful eye. We're confident you'll be hearing a lot more from Richy in tournaments to come. Congratulations to Richy for a fine performance this week.

Here's an interesting story. Imagine being 18 years old, living in a foreign country where you don't know the language and deciding to attempt the LPGA Qualifying School, golf's toughest school to graduate from due to the limited Tour Cards that are available each year. Well that's exactly what ShanShan "Jenny" Feng, from China, attempted to do last fall.

By Q-School's end, Jenny was holding one of those coveted LPGA Tour Cards with her 9th place finish. So it was straight to the big leagues from Hank Haney IJGA where she was a student rapidly developing her game.

If you are a LPGA Tour fan, you may have noticed Jenny coming into form over the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, at the Jamie Farr Classic, Jenny was one shot off the lead set by eventual winner Paula Creamer with 6 holes to play on Sunday. A couple of mistakes and costly three putts lead to a fourth-place finish and jeny's biggest check as a pro of over $66,000. (Do you know Hank Haney hates three-putts? He feels the ability to avoid three-putting is a major key to successful tournament golf. Tournament statistics back his conclusions on this little talked about part of the game; three-putt avoidance.)

Last week's LPGA State Farm Classic again saw Jenny on the first page of the leader board. She charged from well back on Sunday to post a 63 (her low round this year) and tie for fourth, pocketing another $77,000 check. Not bad for a young woman who is the first player from China to play on the LPGA. Jenny has earned $158,863 and now rests at 55th place on this year's Money List, one spot below Natalie Gulbis. Jenny turns 19 years old in early August.

I can't wait to see what Jenny has in store for us next as the foreign invasion of the LPGA shows no signs of letting up.

That's my view on the game.

Mark Gonsalves
CEO
Hank Haney IJGA