Bean overhauls Osborne to clinch title
Cornell Bean Jr. (230) claimed his second junior title of the year in convincing fashion at Port Royal yesterday.
And he did so the hard way, coming from two shots back in blustery conditions to overhaul overnight leader Alex Osborne (238) to win the senior boys division in the Aon Fecchio Cup.
Bean shot a four over 75, his lowest round of the tournament, to claim top honours by a commanding eight shots over Osborne, who self destructed with the title there for the taking.
"I just kept hitting fairways and greens while everybody else was having trouble. I just kept it straight down the middle and then onto the green," said Bean, who heads off to Florida today to compete in the prestigious Orange Bowl — a tournament previously won by world number one Tiger Woods.
The 17-year-old Warwick Academy student started the day at 13 over and in need of a solid round to overhaul the leader. And the 2007 Junior National Match Play champion could not have asked for a better start as he birdied to first hole to grab a share of the lead after Osborne made the first of four bogeys on the front nine.
A par at the par-four fourth then gave Bean the lead for good. And from there he never looked back with his impressive round gathering more momentum with another birdie at seven.
In contrast, Osborne never got going with a bogey on the opening hole setting the tempo for the rest of the way.
But if it was any consolation, Osborne's 14-over 85 was still enough to earn him runner's-up accolades while Damian Palanyandi (245) rounded off the top three after entering the clubhouse at 11-over 82.
Angus Lang (256) and Jun Hardart (256) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Ryan Roberts (240) also conquered the blustery conditions to storm to victory in the junior boys division, carding a final round 11-over 82 to finish a whopping 18 shots ahead of second placed Tyler Balcombe (258).
"It was pretty bad out there today. You really had to keep the ball low because if you got it up the wind would take it," a victorious Roberts said.
Ryan Benevides (265) claimed third-place honours while Yana Ballantyne (272), the sole woman in the field, finished fourth and Dwayne Pearman Jr. (279) fifth.