Junior World Golf : Schutte of South Africa Wins Title by One Stroke

Warren Schutte of South Africa can drive a golf ball almost 300 yards. For a 14-year-old, that’s saying something.

That strength helped Schutte Thursday in the final round of the boys’ 13-14 division of the Junior World championships at San Diego’s Balboa Park Golf Course.

Schutte reached the green of the par-5, 449-yard 18th hole in two shots, then two-putted for a birdie and a one-stroke victory over Matt Masluk of Boulder City, Nev.

After the victory, Schutte, who shot an even-par 72 in the final round, collected his trophy and called his mother in Durban, South Africa. It was 11 p.m. there and she had been nervously waiting to hear from her son.

He told her about his tremendous 2-iron shot on the 18th. With the ball 210 yards from the green, Schutte hooked his shot around a couple of trees and watched in delight as it rolled to a stop, six feet from the cup.

“Then, all I wanted to do was two-putt,” he said.

He did for his first Junior World tournament title.

In the girls’ 13-14 division, Brandie Burton of Rialto survived a quintuple-bogey 10 on the 13th hole to win the championship by one stroke over Stephanie Martin of Camarillo.

Burton, the first-round leader, was in fourth after an eight-over-par 83 Wednesday. She said that once things started going badly that day, she couldn’t pull herself together.

But, Thursday, after hitting two tee shots out of bounds on 13, Burton recovered. She had a par on 14 and then hung on down the stretch.

“I was very proud of myself,” Burton said. “This time, I didn’t let down. I kept going for everything and it worked out.”

In the boys’ 10-and-under division at Presidio Hills, Jaysen Manuia of Hilo, Hawaii, held off Eldrick (Tiger) Woods of Cypress to win by two shots. Woods, trailing by 10 shots going into the final round, was trying for his third straight championship. He shot a five-under par 51. Manuia, the second-round leader, shot a 59.

In the girls’ 10-and-under division, Jan Kotoshirodo of Pearl City, Hawaii won her second straight championship. Kotoshirodo finished two under par at 178, 15 strokes ahead of second-place Kellee Booth of Huntington Beach.

In the boys’ 11-12 division at the Mission Bay Golf Course, San Diego’s Chris Riley shot a one-under-par 57 to win the championship by one stroke over Brian Brown of Rocky Mountain, N.C., and Michael Cross of Australia. In the girls’ 11-12 division, Leanne Wong of Los Angeles shot a four-under-par 60 to win the girls’ 11-12 division by eight strokes over Lisa Anderson of Mililani, Hawaii.

Meanwhile, defending champion Carito Villaroman of the Philippines’ shot his third-straight sub-par round to take a commanding lead going into today’s final round of the boys’ 15-17 division at Torrey Pines.

Villaroman shot a 69 to go along with a 66 and 67 the first two days of the tournament. His 14-under total of 202 is good enough for a 12-shot lead over South Africa’s Manuel Zerman.

In the girls’ 15-17 division, Michele Lyford of Redlands and Amy Fruhwirth of Cypress are tied at three-under 219 heading into the final round on Torrey Pines’ North Course.