July 18, 2002

GLENVIEW, Ill. – The United States is protecting to a four-point lead in the Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship following the second round at The Glen Club. USC’s Kristy McPherson, a day after posting the low score for a women’s player in the event, shot a two-over 74 and fell to Japan’s Chiharu Tsunekawa in singles play.

McPherson and the USA’s Danielle Downey, who shot a 68 Thursday, are tied for women’s overall medalist honors with one round to play Friday. Each player has a two-day, two-over 146 total.

Trailing 9-3 after the first round, the Japanese started quickly in Thursday’s singles stroke-play matches, winning four of the first six games and halving a fifth. The quick start forged a 12-12 tie in team points halfway through the round.

The U.S. answered the Japanese charge by winning four consecutive matches, including a 10-stroke victory by Vanderbilt senior Brandt Snedeker. Snedeker shot 65 (-7) and demolished the course record set yesterday by teammate Bryan Clarke (68).

“It felt really good today to shoot that number,” Snedeker said. “I’ve been working on a lot of things in my game lately, and this is the first time I’ve had confidence over the ball in a while.”

Snedeker, a second team PING All-America selection, admitted to catching a few breaks en route to posting the low score. Aside from seeing zero deceptive putts, he found a fortunate bounce on the 14th hole.

“I hit a big, high pull hook off the tee, and thought I might be in trouble,” admitted Snedeker. “But luckily my ball landed on the 17th tee, and I had a decent shot to the green.”

Snedeker’s second shot landed on the green, and he two-putted for birdie to turn disaster into fortune.

Danielle Downey, Gregg Jones, Brock Mackenzie and Chris Nallen also posted victories for the United States. Nallen was the only other American to break 70 today, as he carded a 4-under-par 68.

Japan’s Shintaro Kai posted his second-straight under-70 round in the day’s final match. Kai shot 66 to follow yesterday’s 69, and stands one stroke ahead of Snedeker in the race for men’s medalist honors.

Play concludes tomorrow at The Glen Club with 12 singles stroke-play matches. The first tee time is set for 7:30 a.m. and public galleries are encouraged to attend free of charge.

Second Round Singles Results
The Glen Club, Glenview, Ill.
Thursday, July 18, 2002

Singles stroke-play – score of Japanese player vs. stroke-play score of American player winner earns two team points, halved match worth one point for each team.

Women

JAPAN Hitomi Matsumura def. USA Kelli Kamimura, 76-80
USA Danielle Downey def. JAPAN Izumi Narita, 68-71
JAPAN Kyoko Furuya halved with USA Christi Cano, 74-74
JAPAN Chiharu Tsunekawa def. USA Kristy McPherson, 72-74

Men

JAPAN Satoshi Sakamoto def. USA Clint Colbert, 74-76
JAPAN Toyokazu Fujishima def. USA Kris Mikkelsen, 69-70
USA Gregg Jones def. JAPAN Haruo Fujishima, 72-74
USA Brock Mackenzie def. JAPAN Riki Ikeda, 71-75
USA Brandt Snedeker def. JAPAN Kunihiro Kamii, 65-75
USA Chris Nallen def. JAPAN Kiyota Taichiro, 68-69
JAPAN Yuusaku Miyasato def. USA Dustin Bray, 71-72
JAPAN Shintaro Kai def. USA Bryan Clarke, 66-75

(Second Round) Team Points: USA leads Japan, 20-16