Jones Victorious in First Round Four-Ball

July 17, 2002

GLENVIEW, Ill. – The United States jumped out to a quick lead at the Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship Wednesday at The Glen Club. The Americans won four of the six matches and halved a fifth, building a 9-3 lead after the first day of competition.

Bryan Clarke of the University of West Florida carded a course record 68 (-4) on the year-old Tom Fazio-designed course. The Tampa, Fla. native blistered the front nine, posting four birdies along the way.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Clarke said of claiming his first career course record. “Hopefully I can better it in the next couple of days.”

Clarke teamed with Clemson’s Gregg Jones en route to defeating Haruo Fujishima and Yuusaku Miyasato, 140-146 in the aggregate four-ball format. Clarke’s 68 combined with Jones’ 72 for a team score of 140, bettering the Japanese duo by six strokes and earning two points for the United States.

Brock Mackenzie (Washington) and Clint Colbert (Savannah College of Art & Design) won the day’s first match by 13 strokes over Toyokazu Fujishima and Satoshi Sakamoto. Japan tallied its first point in the third match, as Kunihiro Kamii and Shintaro Kai halved with Dustin Bray (North Carolina) and Kris Mikkelson (Georgia Tech).

Vanderbilt’s Brandt Snedeker and Arizona’s Chris Nallen defeated Riki Ikeda and Kiyota Taichiro 142-147 in the final men’s pairing. Kyoko Furuya and Izumi Narita claimed the lone victory for the Japanese in the first women’s match. The pair downed Danielle Downey (Auburn) and Kelli Kamimura (Washington) by a score of 154-156.

The U.S. women answered the Japanese in next match, as South Carolina’s Kristy McPherson and Oklahoma State’s Christi Cano defeated Hitomi Matsumura and Chiharu Tunekawa 146-159.

Play continues Thursday and Friday at The Glen Club with singles medal matches beginning at 7:30 a.m. Admission is free of charge, and public galleries are encouraged.

First Round Four-ball Results The Glen Club, Glenview, Illinois Wednesday, July 17, 2002

Combined stroke-play scores of two Japanese players vs. combined stroke-play scores of two American players

Men USA Clint Colbert (75) and Brock Mackenzie (71) def. JAPAN Toyokazu Fujishima (79) and Satoshi Sakamoto (80),146-159

USA Bryan Clarke (68) and Gregg Jones (72) def. JAPAN Haruo Fujishima (74) and Yuusaku Miyasato (72), 140-146

JAPAN Shintaro Kai (69) and Kunihiro Kamii (73) halved with USA Dustin Bray (70) and Kris Mikkelson (72), 142-142

USA Chris Nallen (71) and Brandt Snedeker (71) def. JAPAN Riki Ikeda (74) and Kiyota Taichiro (73), 142-147

Women JAPAN Kyoko Furuya (76) and Izumi Narita (78) def. USA Danielle Downey (78) and Kelli Kamimura (78), 154-156

USA Christi Cano (74) and Kristy McPherson (72) def. JAPAN Kitomi Matsumura (84) and Chiharu Tunekawa (75), 146-159

Team Points: USA leads Japan, 9-3