Sinay Adds Name to Prestigious List

Brian Sinay has won so many junior golf tournaments that he has stopped counting. His father says it’s more than 40, including the prestigious Junior World Championship at age 12.

So excuse him for not recognizing the significance of the Southern Section individual boys’ championship until he arrived at Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs on Friday.

Sinay, a freshman from Irvine University High, got a quick perspective adjustment when he read signs staked in the putting green that listed former champions: Ted Oh, Chris Tidland . . . and, oh yeah, Tiger Woods.

“I felt a little pressure when I saw those names,” Sinay said. “Not that I wasn’t going to try my hardest to do well anyway. But I thought, ‘I really want to do well here.’ ”

Sinay did fine, shooting three-under-par 69 to win the title, becoming the first freshman champion since Oh won in 1992.

Westlake sophomore J.T. Kohut finished second, one-stroke behind at 70, dropping a shot with a bogey on his final hole.

It was a day for patience and perseverance in the desert. With temperatures pushing 110 degrees, 143 of the section’s finest labored through six-hour rounds.

There was little wind to provide cooling relief or toughen up the 6,869-yard layout. Two players--both with PGA Tour experience--appeared ready to take advantage.

Culver City junior John Ray Leary, who played in the Buick Invitational in February, made eagle with a nine-iron from 150 yards and got as low as five-under, before losing five strokes to par on his final four holes.

Fullerton Sunny Hills senior Jin Park, who played in the 1996 Nissan Open, had three birdies in his first five holes. But he also mixed in a bogey and never got lower than two-under, finishing with a 71.