Spain Leads After First Round of 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL
TOYOTA CITY, Japan – Spain fired an opening-round 10-under 203 to take a two-stroke lead over Korea (-8) after the first day of the 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL in Toyota City, Aichi-Prefecture, Japan. Host Japan sits in third at 5-under (208) while Denmark and Thailand are deadlocked for fourth at minus-3. Mexico rounds out the teams below par at 2-under 211.
“We played very well today,” Spanish coach Yago Beamonte said. “I knew we had a very good team and I think that we’ll be in the fight for the tournament title.”
Argentina and Sweden find themselves at even par – one shot ahead of ninth place Colombia (+1). Three teams – Italy, Morocco and South Africa – check in tied for 10th at 2-over – one stroke in front of two-time defending champion United States (+3). Canada (+5) and New Zealand (+8) close out the boys’ field.
Spain’s David Puig Currius and Nicolai Højgaard of Denmark shot 6-under 65 to tie for the lead in the boys’ individual competition – one stroke ahead of Korea’s Kim Seungmin. Three players – Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, Japan’s Keita Nakajima and Bae Yongjun of Korea – are tied for fourth after posting opening-round 67s (-4). Spain’s Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Coto, Ryo Hisatune of Japan and Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard sit in a tie for seventh at 3-under.
Paced by a 4-under 68s from Ayaka Furue and Yuna Nishimura, host Japan (-8) holds a four-shot opening round lead in the Girls’ Division over Korea (-4). Canada (2-under) and Sweden (-1) are also below par after the first round.
New Zealand checks in fifth at even par – one stroke ahead of two-time defending champion United States (+1). Colombia (3-over), Italy (+5) and South Africa (6-over) round out the girls’ field.
“We have two players that returned from last year’s team,” Japanese captain Gentaro Hashida said. “Being familiar with the course is helpful but they played very well. We expect to continue to improve from this point.”
On the girls’ individual leaderboard, Korea’s Lee Sujeong joins Furue and Nishimura at minus-4 to form a three-way tie for first. Three more players – Celeste Dao of Canada, Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad and Yuka Yasuda of Japan – are tied for fourth at 2-under – two shots clear of a five-way tie for seventh at even par.
The second round of the 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL tees off Wednesday at 8:00 AM JST. For more information – including photographs and videos from the round – please visit www.wjgtc.org and follow the tournament’s official twitter account @wjgtc.
Live scoring of the 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL is provided by Golfstat. Please visit www.golfstat.com for additional information.
BOYS TEAM STANDINGS
1. Spain 68-65-70 = 203 (-10)
2. Korea 72-67-66 = 205 (-8)
3. Japan 67-68-73 = 208 (-5)
T4. Denmark 65-68-77 = 210 (-3)
T4. Thailand 72-69-69 = 210 (-3)
6. Mexico 71-69-71 = 211 (-2)
T7. Argentina 72-72-69 = 213 (E)
T7. Sweden 73-73-67 = 213 (E)
9. Colombia 70-70-74 = 214 (+1)
T10. Italy 73-70-72 = 215 (+2)
T10. Morocco 71-69-75 = 215 (+2)
T10. South Africa 72-71-72 = 215 (+2)
13. United States 71-72-73 = 216 (+3)
14. Canada 73-72-73 = 218 (+5)
15. New Zealand 75-72-74 = 221 (+8)
BOYS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
T1. David Puig Currius, Spain 32-33 = 65 (-6)
T1. Nicolai Højgaard, Denmark 33-32 = 35 (-6)
3. Kim Seungmin, Korea 34-32 = 66 (-5)
T4. Ludvig Aberg, Sweden 33-34 = 67 (-4)
T4. Keita Nakajima, Japan 35-32 = 67 (-4)
T4. Bae Yongjun, Korea 33-34 = 67 (-4)
T7. Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Coto, Spain 35-33 = 68 (-3)
T7. Ryo Hisatune, Japan 34-34 = 68 (-3)
T7. Rasmus Højgaard, Denmark 32-36 = 68 (-3)
T10. Amine El Kharraz, Morocco 36-33 = 69 (-2)
T10. Mauricio Figueroa, Mexico 33-36 = 69 (-2)
T10. Vanchai Luangnitkul, Thailand 35-34 = 69 (-2)
T10. Vicente Marzilio, Argentina 35-34 = 69 (-2)
T10. Kritchayapol Sinchai, Thailand 35-34 = 69 (-2)
GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS
1. Japan 68-68 = 136 (-8)
2. Korea 72-68 = 140 (-4)
3. Canada 70-72 = 142 (-2)
4. Sweden 73-70 = 143 (-1)
5. New Zealand 72-72 = 144 (E)
6. United States 72-73 = 145 (+1)
7. Colombia 74-73 = 147 (+3)
8. Italy 74-75 = 149 (+5)
9. South Africa 75-75 = 150 (+6)
GIRLS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
T1. Ayaka Furue, Japan 35-33 = 68 (-4)
T1. Yuna Nishimura, Japan 34-34 = 68 (-4)
T1. Lee Sujeong, Korea 33-35 = 68 (-4)
T4. Celeste Dao, Canada 35-35 = 70 (-2)
T4. Ingrid Lindblad, Sweden 34-36 = 70 (-2)
T4. Yuka Yasuda, Japan 35-35 = 70 (-2)
T7. Sadie Englemann, United States 35-37 = 72 (E)
T7. Uhm Kyuwon, Korea 38-34 = 72 (E)
T7. Carmen Lim, New Zealand 36-36 = 72 (E)
T7. Ellie Szeryk, Canada 39-33 = 72 (E)
T7. Rose Zheng, New Zealand 35-37 = 72 (E)