Junior Open

Lee surges to Junior Open lead, Lawson ahead by one

The R&A

17 Jul 24

3 mins

Hyosong Lee hasn’t taken long to adapt to the capricious nature of links golf: just 36 holes over Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club in the Junior Open. Lee takes an eight- shot lead into the final round of the girls’ competition. Aidan Lawson, meanwhile, remains on course to win the boys’ title to follow in the footsteps of fellow Scot Connor Graham, the 2022 champion.

Lee is trending towards the title in the right direction. After opening with a 68, the 15-year-old Korean returned a second-round, five-under-par 67 to move to nine-under-par 135. Canada’s Shauna Liu and Sofia Essakali of Morocco are joint second on one-under par. Lawson has a one-shot lead on three-under 141 after a one-under 71. However, the Edinburgh native has competition in the shape of India’s Kartik Singh and An Seonghyeon of Korea. They are tied for second place on 142.

Highest ranked player

Lee’s position at the top of the leaderboard is not surprising considering she’s the highest ranked player in the field, girl or boy, at seventh on the World Amateur Golf Ranking ™. The 15-year-old arrived in Scotland after defeating the professionals in the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup to become the Japan LPGA Tour’s youngest winner. Out in the opening group at 7:30am, Lee experienced wetter and windier conditions than the benign weather of the opening day. It didn’t deter her. She dropped just two shots to go with seven birdies, including at the 313-yard, par-4, 10^th hole when she drove the green. That was one of five-birdies in a bogey-free inward nine of just 30 shots.

Learning to play links golf

“Today the greens were slower and a bit softer, so that helped me a little,” Lee said. “I still find the course difficult, but I’m learning more about this type of golf. I’m learning to play lower chip shots because in Korea I play a lot of high chips.” Much can happen over 18 holes of golf, as history as shown, but it’ll take a surprising set of circumstances to derail Lee’s chances of joining tour winners Patrick Reed (2006) and Moriya Jutanugarn (2008) as a Junior Open champion. Joint first round leader Liu found Barassie seven shots harder than the opening round. She posted a three-over-par 75. Essakali scored 74.

Hyosong Lee - Korea

“I still find the course difficult, but I’m learning more about this type of golf. I’m learning to play lower chip shots because in Korea I play a lot of high chips.”

A player in form

Lawson is also a player in form. He has three victories this year. His latest win came in the ProDreamUSA Junior Masters. That triumph took him to 405^th on the WAGR™. “I had a good season last year without winning, so to get three wins this year has given me confidence and a world ranking, which is important,” Lawson said. “Winning the ProDreamUSA was good because I had pressure down the stretch and got over the line. So I came here feeling good about my game.” So it’s proved. “I played really solid the whole day, similar to yesterday,” Lawson said. “I just stuck to my process and posted another good score.” The Scottish international played Barassie’s front nine in one-under to move into the lead on three-under. A bogey from the rough on the par-4, 13^th took him back to level for the day, but he birdied the par-5, 16^th to go in front again. His approach on the 17^th flew the green and landed on a downslope near a bunker. He could only manage to get the ball to 12 feet from the flag, but holed the putt to stay ahead of the pack. He holed another five-foot par putt on the last after hitting the green in regulation.

Unfazed

“That was a good par save at 17,” he said. “My putting was good all day, so I wasn’t too concerned about running the ball past the hole at the last because I wanted to give it a go. But my overall game was good all day. I made two bogeys but I don’t get fazed by that now, because I feel I can bounce back. “I’m really pleased with my position. If you’d given me a one shot lead at the start of the day I’d have taken it. I’m looking forward to going out tomorrow.” Fourteen-year-old Singh, India’s highest ranked amateur player at 171^st on the WAGR™, returned a second successive 71. Seonghyeon, who claimed the wind and rain forced him to focus more than the opening round, got into contention with a three-under-par 69 to go with his first-round 73.

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