Americans Maintain Lead in US-Japan Matches

Americans Maintain Lead in US-Japan Matches

7/14/2006

TOCHIGI PREFECTURE, Japan — The United States leads Japan 20-16 following the second round of the 31st annual Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship at Sun Hills Country Club in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture. The two sides split the second round singles matches to maintain the Americans four-point margin.

The U.S. women’s team is coach by Vanderbilt’s Martha Richards Freitag.

Amanda Blumenherst of Duke claimed the first match of the day – 70-81 – to extend the American lead to six. Japan rebounded to win the next two matches when Miki Saiki downed UCLA’s Tiffany Joh, 73-77, and Erina Hara beat Southern Cal’s Irene Cho, 71-73. Jane Park of UCLA pushed the U.S. lead back to four with a 71-75 victory in the final women’s match.

Team USA would win the first two men’s matches to extend its lead to 16-8. USC-Aiken’s Scott Brown downed Yuki Ito, 70-73, and Pepperdine’s Alex Coe came from behind to defeat Yohei Nakamichi, 70-72. Dillon Dougherty of Northwestern halved his match with Masahiko Sanada at even-par 70 to maintain the eight-point lead before Yuta Ikeda beat BYU’s Jake Ellison, 67-69, and Yuto Yasumoto defeated Guilford College’s Colin Clark to cut the lead in half. UCLA’s Erik Flores overcame a five-stroke deficit to half his match with Ayumi Kawamitsu at 71. Japan would get within two after Toru Nakajima’s two-shot victory against Coastal Carolina’s Dustin Johnson before Texas Tech’s Andrew Dresser claimed the final match, 72-76, to push the score to 20-16.

Final round action begins Saturday.

31st Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship
Round Two Results
Sunhills Country Club
United States 20
Japan 16
Amanda Blumenherst USA def. Tomoko Yokoyama, Japan, 70-81 USA, 10-4
Miki Saiki, Japan def. Tiffany Joh, USA, 73-77 USA, 10-6
Erina Hara, Japan def. Irene Cho, USA, 71-73 USA, 10-8
Jane Park, USA def. Chika Yamamoto, Japan, 71-75 USA, 12-8
Scott Brown, USA def. Yuki Ito, Japan, 70-73 USA, 14-8
Alex Coe, USA def. Yohei Nakamichi, Japan, 70-72 USA, 16-8
Dillon Dougherty, USA halved Masahiko Sanada, Japan, 70-70 USA, 17-9
Yuta Ikeda, Japan def. Jake Ellison, USA, 67-69 USA, 17-11
Yuto Yasumoto, Japan def. Colin Clark, USA, 71-72 USA, 17-13
Erik Flores, USA halved Ayumi Kawamitsu, Japan, 71-71 USA, 18-14
Toru Nakajima, Japan def. Dustin Johnson, USA, 72-74 USA, 18-16
Andrew Dresser, USA def. Daisuke Yasumoto, Japan, 72-76 USA, 20-16

Final Round Pairings
Saturday, July 15
Irene Cho USA vs. Tomoko Yokoyama, Japan
Tiffany Joh, USA vs. Chika Yamamoto, Japan
Jane Park, USA vs. Miki Saiki, Japan
Amanda Blumenherst, USA vs. Erina hara, Japan
Dustin Johnson, USA vs. Daisuke Yasumoto, Japan
Alex Coe, USA vs. Masahiko Sanada, Japan
Scott Brown, USA vs. Yohei Nakamichi, Japan
Erik Flores, USA vs. Ayumi Kawamitsu, Japan
Jake Ellison, USA vs. Yuto Watanabe, Japan
Colin Clark, USA vs. Yuki Ito, Japan
Andrew Dresser, USA vs. Toru nakajima, Japan
Dillon Dougherty, USA vs. Yuta Ikeda, Japan