Lee (7 Under) Blazes His Trail : Junior World Golf: Bay Area 14-year-old leaves the field behind at Mission Trails.

Matt Christensen, the only hope among 102 area golfers to win one of eight age groups in the Optimist Junior World Championships here, needed a miracle Thursday.

Christensen of Del Mar recorded a sparkling three-day total of 214 (one over par) in the boys’ 13-14 division at Mission Trails, the par-71, 5,604-yard course where lightning did strike Wednesday.

Christensen, however, got zapped.

Bryan Lee, 14, of Clayton, playing his first world junior event and his first big tournament away from the San Francisco Bay Area, shot 206.

He won by seven strokes, finishing seven under for the tournament and called his performance--you guess it--a miracle.

“This is my first time in a big tournament like this . . . this is . . . unbelievable,” said Lee, who less than a week earlier was having trouble hitting the fairway with his tee shots.

The native of Seoul, South Korea, who moved to the U.S. when he was 8 and didn’t play golf until he was 10, said he shot the best two rounds of his life this week: a 69 on Tuesday and a five-under 66 to take the commanding seven-stroke lead Wednesday that stood up.

Lee’s 66 was one stroke off the 25-year single-round, age-group record, and his three-day total is two shy of the record 204 shared by Tiger Woods of Cypress (1990) and Jonathan Baker of Mesa, Ariz. (1981). He shot 71 Thursday.

Christensen, a 6-foot-4 long hitter, finished tied for fourth after shooting 71-74-70. Afterward, Christensen said he was only one of 130 golfers who were rendered helpless as Lee burned up the course.

“I wanted to play over my head today; I felt I had to,” he said. “I hit a lot better, but I just couldn’t sink a birdie putt. I had six inside 10 feet today and made only three. Yesterday, I missed eight.”

Lee, who shortened his backswing before the tournament, had the jitters heading into the final round, despite his comfortable lead, and it showed. He had five birdies and five bogeys.

“I’ve caught up to someone seven strokes in front of me before,” he said, “so I thought the guys behind me might catch up to me today. I was really nervous when I was teeing off this morning.”

Marlon Dizon of the Philippines and Kidemasa Hoshino of Miyagi-Ken, Japan, tied for second at 213. Christensen shared fourth place with Donald Hailes of West Bountiful, Utah.

Girls’ 13-14 Division

Hee Won Han of Seoul, South Korea, tied the record 216 set by Maria Baena of Colombia last year, with rounds of 73-71-72. Grace Park of Honolulu was second at 220.

10-Under Divisions

In what was a colony of little people appearing to play miniature golf, James Oh of Lakewood and Lorena Ochoa of Guadalajara, Mex. emerged as kingpins, winning the boys’ and girls’ titles, respectively, at Presidio Hills (1,426 yards, par 56 boys, par 60 girls).

Ochoa came from two stokes back to win an unprecedented third championship in the same division. Oh predicted victory before he set foot on the tiny pitch-and-putt course and then shot a 50 in the first round--one stroke off the record.

“When I saw this little course I said, ‘I’ll end up shooting like 40 under par in three days; I’ll put up records that are unbeatable,’ ” said Oh, a pudgy 10-year-old who finished 11 under for the tournament after shooting 50-51-57.

Oh edged Brian Sinay of Irvine (161) by four strokes. J.J. Killeen of Scripps Ranch finished fourth at 165.

Ochoa, 10, apparently meant business when she showed up for the final round trailing Jordan Auten of Las Vegas, N.M. by two strokes. Ochoa fired a 54, a better score than anyone in the boys’ leading foursome could post.

“I was nervous, but I was determined to win,” she said through an interpreter. “I’m very proud.”

Ochoa finished at 175 (59-62-54) to win by two strokes.

11-12 Divisions

Jin Park of Fullerton won the boys’ title with a 163, breaking by one the age-group record he had held along with Billy Mayfair of Phoenix (1979).

Park had rounds of 54-54-55, to edge Alejandro Bustos of Torreon, Mex., by two strokes at the Singing Hills Pine Glen Course (par 57 for boys, 58 for girls).

Ching-Huei Hung of Kaohsiung City, China, shot the second-best total in history (63-59-54--176), as she beat three others by nine strokes.

15-17 Divisions (Third Round)

Woods built a five-stroke lead over Gilberto Morales of Caracas, Venezuela, as Woods takes his bid to win a record seventh Junior World title into today’s final round. Woods (207) shot a four-under 68 at the par-72, 6,727-yard Torrey Pines South course for the second time. Morales (212) turned in a 71.

In the girls’ competition at Torrey Pines North, Erika Hayashida of Lima, Peru, shot 80, losing four strokes off her lead over Luisa Cuartas of Cali, Colombia. Hayashida enters today’s final round at 226, while Cuartas, who shot 76, is one back at 227.