SOUTHERN SECTION INDIVIDUAL GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS : Woods Remains Hot Long Enough to Win Title

By Tiger Woods’ standards, it might not have been his best round of golf, but the four-under-par 68 he shot Monday at Canyon Country Club was good enough to earn him the Southern Section individual championship.

Woods, a 15-year-old freshman from Western High School who is among the top junior players in the nation, beat his nearest competitor--Sunny Hills senior Richard Son--by three strokes.

Woods started play on the back nine, posting a birdie on No. 17 and an eagle on No. 18 to go five under.

On the front, he made a couple of nice shots out of the rough after missing fairways, but was dissatisfied that he wasn’t able to maintain his momentum.

“Put it this way, it’s a disappointment when you are that hot and you don’t keep it going,” Woods said. “But it’s nice to shoot a 68. You can look at it two ways.”

The rest of the field likely saw it as a battle for second place and the remaining 21 berths in the CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. championships, which will be played June 10 at Marbella Golf and Country Club in San Juan Capistrano.

Esperanza freshman Chris Berry, who finished with an even-par 72 and in a three-way tie for third, said he relaxed after he decided Woods couldn’t be caught.

“When I was on 12, I heard Tiger was six under on the backside,” Berry said. “I said, ‘Oh, good! I don’t have to worry anymore.’ ”

Berry, 15, shot a three-under 32 on the front nine, but an out-of-bounds penalty on the 15th hole resulted in a double-bogey six. He then bogeyed 16.

The mistakes cost Berry second place because of the steady play of Son, a senior who will attend North Carolina on a golf scholarship this fall. Son shot a one-over 36 on the front nine and finished with a 71. He and Woods were the only players to finish under par.

Last season, Son finished fourth in the section individuals and ninth in the CIF-SCGA championships.

The shot of the day for Woods came on the 18th hole, where he rolled in a 35-foot putt for the eagle.

“It pumped me up so much that on the next hole I hit a three wood off a tree and (it bounced) back out on the fairway,” Woods said. “It pumped me up too much.”

Golf Notes

Tiger Woods’ victory was the second consecutive section individual title for a freshman. Defending champion Eddy Lee of Corona, who won a two-man junior tournament with Woods last summer, shot 79 Monday. Eight other players from Orange County qualified for the CIF-SCGA championships. Vern Edler (75), Scott Richardson (77) and Dan Buchner (78) of Dana Hills and Paul Hinkle (78) of Estancia advanced, but because their teams qualified for the CIF-SCGA event last week, their qualifications didn’t count against the 22 berths. El Dorado’s Erik Wolf (76), Santa Margarita’s Jason Hewitt (77), El Toro’s Ben Garner (77) and Marina’s Dan Dalton (77) also qualified. Sunny Hills’ Albert Oh and Trabuco Hills’ Mark Mignone finished in a six-way tie for the final two spots, but lost in a playoff.