Junior golfer Jarryd Dillas placed fifth amongst a competitive field in the boys 15-16 age bracket and ninth overall at Highland Oaks on Saturday during the final round of the 2002 Future Masters junior golf tournament in Dothan, Alabama.

Entering the final round of play after shooting an even par 72 during the second round of the 54 hole tournament on Friday, the aspiring Bermudian first encountered a rocky start with a bogey on the second hole.

But he immediately bounced back in style to birdie the third, fourth and sixth holes and move back to under par for the day to remain in contention for top honours.

However, just as sudden as this form appeared, so did it disappear, as a triple bogey on the ninth, followed by bogeys on the 11th and 13th holes saw his chances for honours all but disappear.

But Dillas again showed resilience, and regrouped to par the 14th, before making three straight birdies on the 15th, 16th, 17th and finished the tournament on good footing with a par on the par five 18th.

He finished at even-par 216 for the tournament and can now look forward to extending his form into the Junior World Golf Tournament being held at the Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California.

Fellow top junior golfer Aaron James will also be competing in the event which is being played at the same venue that hosted the Buick Classic earlier this year.

"I am very pleased with it," Dillas said. "I really hit the ball well all week long and I putted very well. It was one of the best putting weeks of my golfing career.

"I really rolled the ball well and made a lot of key par putts and some birdie putts as well.

"I had a lot of confidence coming over from the Match Play Championships (at Riddell's Bay) last week and I'm now very confident heading into the Junior Worlds.

"Obviously I'm looking for another good performance and hopefully I can get high up on the leader board there as well."

Bermuda's Ebony Burgess shot a four-under-par round yesterday to take a one-stroke lead in the girl's division of the North/South Junior Amateur Championships at Pinehurst, North Carolina.

With her game as sharp as ever Burgess brushed aside a field of 30 other players to take honours in the first round on what is described as an incredible US open course.

In the boy's division Steven Roy led the Bermuda group with an 80.