Golf: Middleburg Academy's Maclain Huge Tied for Lead Heading to Final Day of Puerto Rico Junior Open

Special to VivaLoudoun
(Jan. 16, 2012) - Jorge Garcia of Miami notched six birdies in his final 10 holes en route to a second-round 68 and a 2-under-par total, giving him a share of the lead heading into the final round at the Puerto Rico Junior Open. Dylan Healey of Franklin, Tenn., and Middleburg Academy's Maclain Huge of Lovettsville, Va., each carded even-par rounds of 72 Sunday and will play with Garcia in the final grouping Monday at Trump International Golf Club's Championship Course.


Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Puerto Rico Junior Open is a 54-hole stroke play competition featuring 79 boys, ages 12-18, from 15 countries and 18 U.S. states, as well as eight players from Puerto Rico. For the second year in a row, the champion will be awarded a sponsor's exemption into the PGA TOUR's Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com, March 5-11. The par-72 Trump International Golf Club Championship Course is playing 7,083 yards.

Garcia, 15, began the second round 2-over through eight holes. Though he bogeyed the par-3 eighth hole, Garcia said he made a tough downhill eight-footer which set the tone for his final 10 holes.

“I knew I had to shoot a score to get back into position,” he said. “I was 2-over through eight and everything wasn't going my way and I figure out how to make some putts to keep it at 2-over.”

The bogey save on No. 8 created momentum that led to six birdies over the last 10 holes and a 4-under-par 68, his lowest score in AJGA competition.

“To shoot 4-under on the last five holes, you always want to end like that,” Garcia said.

Contrastingly, consistency over 36 holes has pushed Healey to the top of the leaderboard. Through 36 holes, the 17-year-old has avoided scores worse than bogey while carding eight birdies.

“Today I got off to a bit of a bad start, hit a couple balls in the water, but played a little less conservative off the tee and then hit a couple irons really close and got a couple birdies back,” said Healey, who has signed with the University of Arizona. “I didn't make any big numbers, so that was the key.”

Like Garcia, Huge ended the day on a high note after birdies on three of his final four holes. The Virginia Tech signee finished Sunday's second round even-par and is the third co-leader at 2-under.

Christopher Petefish of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Edward Figueroa of Naples, Fla., are tied for fourth at 1-under-par, while Jimmy Stanger of Tampa, Fla., is sixth at 2-over-par.

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,500 junior golfers from 49 states and more than 40 countries. To ensure scholarship opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial assistance to young players in need.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 500 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Stewart Cink, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Inbee Park and Morgan Pressel.