Won Punctuates Career With an Individual Title

The illustrious high school golf career of Ron Won ended Tuesday.

And now it is complete.

Won, a University senior, used a hot putter to shoot an impressive six-under-par 66 on a wind-swept SCGA Members Club in Murrieta and win the CIF-SCGA individual title.

In the process he broke the tournament record of 67 shared by Tiger Woods of Western and Charley Hoffman of Poway and finally put an elusive first-place finish on an otherwise impeccable resume.

Won, who won by three stokes over Roy Moon of Simi Valley Royal and Chris Whitaker of Palisades, has used a barrage of top-five finishes in top junior events to earn the No. 10 national ranking among junior boys. But he always seemed to fall just short of a victory.

“I really haven’t had any big wins,” the Stanford-bound Won said. “It’s a great way to finish my high school career.”

He is the second University golfer to break a high school tournament record held by Woods. Brian Sinay, a junior, shot 65 May 20 at Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs to break the Southern Section record previously held by Woods.

“It’s pretty cool,” Won said. “It really adds to the glory of this.”

Won had seven birdies and a bogey in his record-setting round. He made the turn at three under, then birdied No. 11 before draining an 18-footer for birdie on No. 12 and a 16-footer for birdie on No. 13 to go six under.

With the wind gusting at about 30 mph, good putting was crucial to scoring well.

“I seem to putt well when it’s windy,” said Won, whose only bogey came when he hit his approach shot in the water on No. 3. “The hole looked pretty big. I felt real confident and didn’t put any pressure on myself. I just wanted to shoot as low as I could.”

He equaled his best round, most recently shot at the Southern Section championships, when he finished second to Sinay--the closest the four-time Pacific Coast League champion has come to winning a major tournament.

Santa Barbara San Marcos shot 370 to win the team title by three strokes over Servite and five better than Bonita Vista. It is the second title in three years for the Royals, who also won the Southern Section title, and it was a perfect ending for San Marcos Coach Cliff Purcell, 63, who is retiring.

Servite, led by senior Justin Ragognetti’s 71, posted its best finish in CIF-SCGA finals. The Friars finished fifth in 1996.

“This is a good team,” said Ragognetti, who had struggled in previous postseason matches but tied for sixth and was the only Orange County player other than Won among the top 10 individuals. “They all clutched up when I wasn’t playing well and I’m happy to end my high school career like this.”

Ryan Cole, a Servite sophomore, shot 72 and top player Nico Bollini shot 74.

Sinay, struggling with a sore back, shot 74 to finished tied for 14th. Taylor Wood of Santa Margarita shot 77 and Donald Rhee of El Toro shot 81.

Cerritos senior Lisa Chen shot 72 to win the girls’ title. Chen, a native of Taiwan who will attend San Francisco in the fall, called it the biggest victory of her career.

“My short game really helped me,” said Chen, who came within a stroke of her career-best round. “It means a lot because I’ve been playing with a lot of these players here for a long time.”

Carla Legaspi of Mission Viejo was the top county finisher, shooting 76 to finish tied for 10th.